Senselessness and Sensibility
by Jetom
Summary: AU: Edythe Elric and her older brother Alphonse are recruited by the Amestrian military as alchemical prodigies under Mustang's supervision, of course what could possibly go wrong with having two kids joining the Colonel's team? And what could they possibly be hiding?... Blind!Fem Ed, Al has automail
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: hello hello hello :) ok, tying something new with this story. Have an Edythe Elric (blind girl) and her older brother Alphonse (who has 2 automail limbs) who are recruited by the military as alchemic prodigies under supervision of Mustang & Co. Basically their adventures, am playing around with longer chapter writing and different character developments. Let me know what you think! updates might be a bit sporadic as have a heck of a lot on at the moment, but all will be long so hopefully worth it :P hope wherever you are that you are having a good day!**

The alarm was blaring irritatingly loud, echoing and ringing through the head of one Edythe Elric who groaned as if the weight of an entire universe rested on her young shoulders before smacking a hand down to silence the offending machine. At least this time she hadn't knocked it completely off the bedside table- Al would have had a fit if she broke a second clock in a week… and it was only Tuesday…

Seconds later there was the creak of the door hinges, a clank of metal and a faint smell of oil intruding on her musings that it wouldn't hurt to stay in bed for just another five minutes…  
"Sister, you have to get up. We need to go and see Colonel Mustang in one hour and you can't be late on your first day."  
The elder Elric received only a vague grunt in response, although the younger did begrudgingly swing her legs over the edge of the bed, wincing slightly as the cold of the floorboards made contact with her bare feet. Some small, foolhardy, positive corner of her sleep fuzzed brain chirped that at least the shock helped wake her up.

Thankfully it didn't take long to complete her morning routine, the warm familiarity of her usual clothes providing a small comfort as she thought of the day ahead. Something told her it was going to be a difficult one, but then new places and people always were. At least having Al meant it wouldn't be as disorientating since they had worked out a system for whenever there were big changes in her surroundings. She often joked that he was better than any dog could have been.

They had decided to grab some breakfast on their way to Central Headquarters from a café just a few blacks away from the barracks where they had been placed. Despite having only arrived from Risembool the night before, Ed already had a rough map of the place in her mind, Al having walked her around the building as much as they could before the exhaustion of the journey had over taken them and forced them to get some sleep.

Even so, she warily kept her stick out in front of her as she tapped and counted her way down the stairs at the front doors, _12,_ and rested one hand very lightly on her brother's automail arm until they were in the street.

At that time in the morning there were few other people around as far as she could tell, less noise than was no doubt common for a city that size once the sun was properly over the horizon. She still grumbled slightly at being up at 'stupid-o-clock', but Al was used to her complaints and calmly ignored them all, knowing that her mood would improve dramatically once there was food and coffee in her system.

It was with those thoughts that he left his younger sister sitting at one of the outside tables of the café whilst he went in to forage up some breakfast. From his place in the queue he was able to keep an eye on his sibling, a fondness softening his expression until the woman behind the counter almost thought her heart would melt as she handed over the coffee and pastries he had chosen. It was with slightly exaggerated care that he took the coffees in his automail hand, not wanting to damage the china cups with the metal but reasoning that if he spilt any at least he wouldn't end up burned.

His sister's face swung in his direction as he left the shop and approached her table, tarnished golden eyes fixing on a point only slightly to the left of his actual face. It was almost unnerving how accurate her stare could be. A truly radiant smile broke across her face as he placed the food and drink down with the words,  
"food at 12-o-clock, and drink at 2."  
"Ooh chocolate twist!" her nose was twitching eagerly, taking in the rich aroma of coffee and buttery pastry, the slightly bitter undertone of the chocolate. Suddenly it was a much better morning.

Unfortunately by the time they arrived at the imposing headquarters of the Amestrian military, no amount of sweet treats could stop the slightly sick feeling which stole over the siblings. Al stared with a slightly open mouth at the huge building, the sense of his awe radiating to his sister who began to shift nervously from foot to foot and fiddle with the ends of her golden hair. Slightly tentatively she placed her hand on her brother's automail arm, preferring the familiar feel of cold steel through thin cotton to the rapid pulse running through his flesh and blood limb. With a simultaneous deep breath, they headed for the entrance.

"Call the ball Al."  
Her brother smiled slightly at the brave tone she had adopted, and began muttering details to her as they walked. "Alright, 24 steps… hmm, some sort of reception room, desk at 12-o'clock, pillars at each corner, open tiled floor all around."  
She could hear their steps echoing back at them, suggesting that the room was fairly large, feel the sharp vibration of each time Al's automail foot connected with the hard floor. It felt like there were a fair few people hurrying around them, so she made sure to swing her cane in a slightly tighter arc than normal to prevent hitting any of them accidentally.

"Alright, the letter said the office we are after is on the fourth floor so guess we are going to have to take the stairs." The elder Elric was keeping a close eye on his sister even though he knew that she was more than capable of handling the situation. Since the accident which had cost him two limbs and her the use of her eyes they had been forced to get good at adapting. Even so, he was always fiercely protective when heading into the unknown as he acted as her eyes.

The jarring clattering of their steps against what seemed to be some form of marble gave way to a much softer padding. Apparently the fourth floor had a type of carpet, not one which you could fully sink into but enough to make it slightly springy underfoot. Brief flashes of warmth from what were probably windows, the smell of ink and old papers as they passed what Al told her was a clerk's work area, the distant ringing and answering of a phone… and then they stopped slightly abruptly. _Wood polish, Al's heartrate has picked up._

"This is it."

Involuntarily her knuckles tightened ever so slightly around her cane and she let go of her brother to hold it with both hands so that they wouldn't tremble. Ed was determined that she would show no weakness to whoever was on the other side of the door. Al rapped on the wood with his flesh hand, the sudden sound making her jump just a little which he pretended not to notice, before a muffled voice called for them to enter.

Alphonse went first, Edythe filing in just behind and trusting him to hold the door open for her, muttering a brief warning about a desk a couple of feet to her right as he came to stand beside her. For a moment there was silence. Or at least for everyone else. _Breathing, five… no six people in front of me. One a bit wheezy, smoker? One slightly heavier than the others, bigger build?_

"Aah you must be the Elrics." The voice was somewhere ahead and a bit to the left. Deep, rich, sounding self-assured and perhaps a little smug. For some reason it set Ed's hackles up a tad.

Al took the lead, stepping forwards and shaking the man's proffered hand.  
"That's us. I'm Alphonse and this is Edythe, although you can call us Al and Ed." She got the feeling he must have motioned in her direction as she got the sense that everyone was staring directly at her. Turning her face towards their voices, she held out a hand although didn't step forwards.

After a moment's pause there was a faint rustle of cloth and then a hand met hers. She gripped it firmly, deft fingers feeling some sort of glove. Intrigued she curled them around the stranger's wrist, flipping their hand and tracing the back of it, stroking the tips of her fingers across the fine stitching.  
"Hmm, alchemical array… a salamander? Oh- guessing you are the flame alchemist?"

A strong wave of surprise from the person in front of her and a faint chuckle from Al confirmed her suspicions. _Smooth voice, faint smell of ash, wood smoke, and… spices? Must be some sort of aftershave._ The alchemist chuckled slightly, "Very good, I can see that you live up to your reputation as an alchemical prodigy. Although, no offence, nobody informed me that you were… umm…"  
"Blind? Huh, would have thought that would be in my file to be honest…"

There was a slight sighing noise from the area where she could sense a gathering of people, and she heard what sounded like a woman whisper, "I told him to pay attention to his paperwork…" Choosing to ignore it, although she couldn't help a slight smirk dancing briefly across her face, Ed shrugged instead. "So I'm guessing you also don't know about Al's automail? Ok, well in that case don't let him hit you with his left hand or right leg unless you fancy breaking something."  
"Oh come on Ed that isn't fair- it only happened one time and they were asking for it anyway."  
"No comment."

The Flame Alchemist broke into their exchange, "Well, now I know and consider myself forewarned. My name is Colonel Mustang, and for all intents and purposes I am your superior officer for the duration of your time with the military. Allow me to introduce my subordinates who will form the team that you work with. First up, we have Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye."

 _Someone stepped forwards, very soft on their feet, the scents of gunpowder and gun oil mingling slightly oddly with sandalwood- perfume? There was a faint clink from what Ed assumed was some form of firearm. Her voice when she said hello was friendly but had a stern edge underlying it._

"Next up is Jean Havoc."  
 _Overwhelming smell of stale cigarettes, this was the one with the wheezy breathing. His voice was slightly gravelly but sounded easy going enough.  
_ "Sergeant Breda."  
 _Solid footsteps, a faint aroma of bacon and eggs as if he had just eaten breakfast, slightly loud voice.  
_ "Sergeant Fuery,"  
 _Air of nervousness, a hint of ozone like that from a short circuited wire, higher pitched voice.  
_ "And last but not least, Falman"  
 _Very quiet, she could only just hear his breathing, and could smell what seemed to be hot chocolate…_

Alphonse nodded to each of them in turn with a warm smile. They really seemed like a very nice bunch, each giving the young siblings a welcoming smile as they were introduced. From the corner of his eye he could see his sister mentally cataloguing each of them, still managing to keep a pleasant expression on her own face as she turned to roughly where she gauged each of them to be.

"Well, with the introductions out of the way, how about you guys step into my office and we can get through or the formalities of signing forms and get you settled in around here."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: aloha :) next chapter finally up (evidently...) hope you guys like, think this is the longest one I have ever written (whoop!) please let me know what you think! umm, yeah think that is pretty much all I have to say atm :P hope that wherever you are, you are having a good day!**

It had been two months since the Elric siblings had been assigned to Mustang's team, and safe to say it had proved a steep learning curve for all involved. Although the kids were technically working for the research and development department, they still spent a large amount of time with the Colonel and his men, apparently preferring their company to the extent that they were pretty much given their own desk. Not literally of course, since they technically had an officially assigned one in the labs, but most days they instead chose to pinch a corner of Havoc's.

Ed apparently preferred it for being opposite a window. She hadn't even been all that annoyed when her heightened hearing caught Breda questioning why that mattered seeing as how she couldn't exactly appreciate the view. As she calmly explained, she liked the feeling of the sun on her face and that Al would sometimes describe what he could see when she needed to take a break from her work. It had taken at least ten minutes before the man was done spluttering apologies and wonder at her hearing, partially instigated no doubt by the metallic snap of the slide of a firearm.

Since books on alchemy were almost impossible to get a hold of in Braille, most of the time Alphonse simply read the contents to his sister in a low voice, the pair of them getting into occasionally heated discussions over the potential applications or flaws of theories even as they both practically devoured the information. It was a routine soon accepted as part of the background noise, with the team finding the office almost disturbingly quiet on the days when the siblings were in the labs for a day to test an idea. Thankfully those were rare.

The Colonel had questioned them about their reluctance to go to their assigned division after they had kept coming back in the first week. Of course they were required to check in with him at the start and finish of each day, seeing as how he was responsible for the pair, but he had been surprised when on their second full day they had returned to his office and asked with studied nonchalance if they could stick around for a while.

After about an hour Edythe had decided to go and get a drink, a glare from the ever protective Hawkeye prompting Havoc to decide to go with her. The girl had scowled in his general direction for a moment, before sighing slightly, "look you don't need to escort me or anything- I can get around and function as a human being perfectly fine by myself you know."  
For once in his romantically stunted life Jean had found an element of smoothness, as without missing a beat he began to head for the door, "I know you can- I am just going because I want to smoke and the Colonel blows a gasket if I do it in the office."

Once they had left, apparently striking up a friendly conversation as they did, Mustang took the opportunity to head over to where the elder Elric was busy organising the growing stack of notes which they had been making. The boy had smiled at him and spoke first in a friendly and rather grateful tone. "Hey Colonel, I just wanted to say thanks for letting us crash here today."

"Well, umm I was actually going to ask you about that. Aren't you supposed to have your own lab space?"  
Al had shifted slightly, getting to his feet with a creak of gears as the weight went on his automail leg, rubbing his flesh arm along the back of his neck and looking slightly awkward. "Aah, kind of a long story, but the short version is basically I am not really sure we quite fit in there…"

The Colonel frowned, confused, "What do you mean? Last night when you signed out you guys seemed really excited about the facilities and materials on offer."  
"Yeah, that part is great, it's just… well the other researchers… apparently they weren't so keen about having a couple of brats without experience around."  
Something told Mustang that was a direct quote. His voice earned a steely edge. "I see. I would very much like if you would elaborate on that for me."  
"Look, Colonel, there is no need. To be honest we sort of expected something along these lines, and it isn't as if we haven't had to deal with it before…"

By this point everyone present had gathered around to listen in, concern showing on even the stoic Hawkeye's face. The Colonel crossed his arms and adopted a commanding tone. "Listen here Alphonse Elric: you will tell me exactly what has changed in the last 24 hours to make you start avoiding the place." And when the kid still looked reluctant he added, "Or else I will go down there and begin shooting sparks until they cough up the story."

"Look it's no big deal…" only stony stares met the lame protest, and he sighed heavily. "Alright, alright… but honestly it is nothing serious. Some of the researchers just made comments about our likely lack of abilities due to our ages. We didn't care about that of course, and even though it made me angry Ed didn't even blink when someone made a particular point about the uselessness of a blind researcher.

But… she kind of lost her temper when certain things which I won't repeat were said about my automail. So then she started yelling at them, they started yelling back… and then she sort of transmuted one scientist's desk into a bear trap… I thought that it would be best if we stuck around here for the day until tempers cooled."

"Wait she did what? How did she draw a circle for that… considering…"  
"Oh her blindness doesn't stop her- I have no idea how, but after the accident she managed to crack transmuting without a circle, she just claps and hey presto! She has tried to explain it to me but… honestly she just senses everything so differently and on a level beyond…"  
"Aha, well I can see why the department was so desperate to recruit you two."  
Al had only smiled slightly at that, still frowning at the events of the day.

His audience hadn't been at all happy to hear that the siblings had been greeted with such hostility, but at the entreaties of Al had agreed to let them sort it out themselves the next day. By the time Ed and Jean had returned still chatting like old friends, everyone had returned to their work, leaving the rest of the morning to pass smoothly.

They had returned to the research department after lunch, determined to start afresh, and both apologised for raising their voices. As reported when they signed out in the evening, it seemed that all parties had agreed to let it go.

The next day however was not such a calm ride, kicked off when just two hours into the day Al came barging into the office with a protesting Ed held in his arms as he frantically asked the stunned team if they had a med kit anywhere. All the shouting brought Mustang out from his inner office, the Lieutenant hot on his heels with the first aid supplies as Al set his sister down in an empty chair. He had to step back to allow Hawkeye through, and at that point everyone got a good look at Ed's battered face.

Her sightless eyes were flickering all over the room as she tried to place everyone present and track their movements, slightly disorientated as not walking meant she wasn't entirely sure at first where about in the office she had been put. There was someone directly in front of her, _gun oil and sandalwood._ "Look Hawkeye it is not that big a deal- it's just a cut."

The woman showed no surprise at the girl being able to identify her immediately, simply reaching into the box of supplies as she spoke, "it is actually a cut and rather impressive bruise on your cheekbone which I need to make sure isn't broken."  
"I can tell you it isn't. It barely even hurts."  
 _The grating of a lid being unscrewed, a harsh and bitter stink of chemicals, a sudden fiery blossoming in her cheek as some form of antiseptic was applied by practiced hands.  
_ "Ouch! Well now it does."

The amount of anger radiating from the Colonel was like a dark aura around the man, prompting his subordinates to take a few cautious steps back as he spoke through gritted teeth. "What the hell happened?"  
Al let out a defeated sigh. "Apparently the issues with the other scientists weren't as resolved as we believed."  
"Explain."  
"Well, because of Ed we try and keep everything in the same place as much as possible so it is easier for her to navigate, especially since when she is working she doesn't have her cane to keep both hands free… Anyway, apparently our _co-workers_ thought it would be a great joke to shift things around when we went to get some books. Long story short, someone put a chair directly in her way making her trip. She hit her face on the edge of a worktable as she went down… I should have caught her…"

The girl in question piped up at this point, "Al don't be a moron- this is in no way your fault. Anyway, your hands were full at the time. If anything, I should have been more careful and had my cane."  
"No- you needed your hands free to carry that copy of 'Materials and Resonance' which we have been trying to find for months."

It was here that Mustang broke into the bickering, "No, what should have happened is that the adults and supposed professionals in the lab behaved like decent human beings instead of spiteful toddlers. Now, you two are going to spend the rest of the day up here, and I will be back in a little while."

There was silence in the office for a moment as the irate officer stormed out, broken when Breda gave a nervous chuckle, "I would hate to be in their shoes right about now…" followed by a dull thud as the mental image proved too much for Fuery who promptly fainted on his desk. The incident report which the Colonel was later forced to file as a result of his 'chat' with the research department was considered by everyone to be an artwork of understating events. Particularly when the infirmary reported the admittance of a third of the department for second degree burns at the same time.

Since then, it had become common practice for the siblings to spend their time in his team's office. Naturally nobody in the labs ever dared mess with them again, but that didn't mean the atmosphere down there became all that friendly.

Yet despite the rocky start, it really seemed that the pair were settling in well to their new environment, and if the exclamations of the department head to whom they submitted their work were anything to go by they certainly deserved their prodigy label. This was proved to apply to more than just academics however, as the team discovered to their frank shock and awe when in their second week a directive was passed down from the Fuhrer's office demanding mandatory fitness assessments for all military personnel.

Apparently this was to take the form of a combat readiness assessment through hand to hand sparring. On hearing about it, Mustang and his men had at once tried to find some way of excusing the siblings, who with stunning casualness brushed off their concerns and declared themselves happy to participate.

As usual Al was the designated spokesperson, explaining how they sparred against each other all the time and so would have no problems with the evaluation.  
"Look Alphonse," the Colonel had tried to reason with them, "Don't get me wrong- you two are no doubt able to take care of yourselves, but this is going to be as close to real combat as we can simulate. We just don't want you guys getting hurt because some jarhead doesn't pull their punches."  
"Why would we ask them to go easy on us?"

In the end all protests had been ever so politely ignored by the elder and less politely, more vocally, refuted by the younger, until in resignation the team had just stopped trying. Even so, there had been dark mutterings about the repercussions if any of the assessors took things too far.

Consequently on the day of the assessment the whole group made sure to be present for the Elric's turn. Apparently word had spread, and there was a fair sized crowd by the time Alphonse stepped into the sparring zone, being called first as the older. In just a tank top, sweat pants and barefooted his automail showed clearly, gleaming slightly and causing whispered comments amongst those who hadn't realised that he had it.

A few moments later his assessor stepped into the opposite side of the ring, a six and a half foot tall wall of muscle who apparently was on loan for the day from the Special Forces training academy. Moments before the fight started, Edythe darted forwards and whispered something in her brother's ear to which he nodded seriously. As the combatants began to circle one another, Jean Havoc tapped the girl on the shoulder, "What did you just say to him?"  
"Oh, I just told him to go easy- if he breaks his opponent's bones then he will never hear the end of it from his mechanic. She always says that he risks denting his limbs."

Her straight face as she said it caused him to gulp ever so slightly and suddenly decide to pay much closer attention to the fight unfolding in front of them. Although in hindsight perhaps fight wasn't the right word… it rather turned into a pretty one sided beating punctuated by sympathetic gasps from the onlookers as the 15 year old almost literally ran rings around the older man.

Havoc kept up a stream of commentary for Edythe so she could keep up with what was going on, "alright they are circling… circling… holy cow how did Al move that fast?!"  
 _The whir of metal gears, the rancid odour of mingled sweat, harsh panting and a sudden bass grunt of pain. A wet smack of flesh on flesh, a sudden coppery tang which seemed to coat the back of her throat._ "Whoop! First blood to my brother!"

Her friend glanced at her for a moment, surprised by her level of perception, "Ok, they are back to circling… ooh how the hell did Al kick that high? Ouch! That punch must have hurt."  
"Believe me it would be worse if he landed one with his automail- good thing in a play fight he only uses it for feints."  
"Huh, so he is, I hadn't even realised."  
"Well, he doesn't want to cause any permanent damage…"

It only lasted for about another minute before the teenager gave a particularly fancy twist to his kick which sent the instructor sprawling. A round of cheers broke out from the spectators, most of whom had been on the receiving end of a beating from that man at some point in the day. Edythe threw her arms around her brother as he stepped out of the ring, laughing as they were surrounded by stunned adults who kept clapping Al on the shoulder.

The chaos went on for a good ten minutes before the crowd began to calm down as they remembered that the younger sibling was still to be assessed. A new trainer stepped into the ring, and from the concerned mutterings floating around Ed got the sense that he must be pretty physically intimidating.

Al ruffled her hair as she moved past him towards the fighting area, trusting him to lift the ropes sectioning it off out of her way. _The floor changed from cool tiles to rough canvas which her feet were able to grip onto with much greater ease, it was still slightly warm from the antics of her brother's match._

There were consternated mutterings from the surrounding crowd as they noted her cane which she tapped in a wide arc in front of her on approach to the centre of the ring. When she judged herself to be roughly at the middle she stopped, smirking to herself at how she must look- a young, evidently blind girl against a man who no doubt was around double her size. With a deep breath she adjusted her grip ever so slightly on her cane… and waited.

Off to the side the team were getting distinctly uneasy at the thought of what was about to happen even as Al tried to reassure them. "Guys it will be fine- she has her cane so any damage shouldn't be too bad."  
"How can you be so casual about this? I don't care how good she is with that cane any _damage_ she gets from that monster is going to be significant."  
The boy snorted softly as he turned his eyes back to the small but striking sister which his sister cut. "Umm, I actually meant that so long as she is using her cane her opponent _should_ be able to recover. If this was bare handed on her part I wouldn't be so sure."

They stared at him, and he rubbed the back of his neck as he was wont to do when embarrassed or nervous. "Well, with her cane she can aim for extremities and lighter hits. Because of her blindness, when she is in a real bare handed fight she just goes straight for the incapacitate or kill points as it is simpler to track centre mass and strike for example at the throat than to do anything fancy. But as I say, that is only in a serious fight. For something like this… well it is always something worth watching."

Further conversation was cut short as the instructor began to circle the young girl. She didn't move a muscle, staying in the same ready position facing roughly where he had started from. Not apparently perturbed by his opponent, the man went rushing in with a shout from her left, his battle cry transforming into a yell of pain. Faster than the eye could follow, she had spun slightly on her back foot, whipping her cane up with a flick of her wrist and sent the tip cracking down on the knuckles of the hand which had been extended into a punch even as she simply flowed out of the way of his stumbling form.

 _Ragged breathing, the faint rustle of cloth, the harsh stench of sweat._ She returned to her previous position, standing waiting. _Movement behind, the quiet rasp of bare skin on coarse canvas, the thundering of a heartbeat not her own, a faint drip of sweat onto the ring floor. A rush of air from just to the right. No shout this time- that had been stupid to advertise his presence._ Edythe changed her stance slightly to lean onto her right leg even as she lashed out with her cane. _The sharp crack of it connecting with what she judged to be a forearm_. Pushing down slightly to overbalance her attacker, she smoothly crouched and swivelled around backwards to bring her left foot around and into what felt like a knee.

 _Another rush of air, close enough to stir her golden bangs even as she stepped away from it. A heavy thump which sent tremors through her feet as a large body made hard contact with the floor. A pained exhalation as the wind was knocked out of him. For a moment there was silence… then shouts, cheers, a lot of people suddenly moving around. A familiar and comforting presence at her shoulder, gear oil, vanilla and cinnamon._

She turned to her brother, a small grin on her face as she reached out a hand which he clasped in his own. Moments later the rest of the team were surrounding the triumphant pair, babbling almost hysterically about what they had just seen and demanding to know where they had learned something like that.

Suddenly Ed turned sharply back towards the ring, a barely discernible tension in her shoulders. _Copper, heavy breaths, pained grunts, mixed air of confidence and abashment._ Following her motion the team turned to see the slightly stunned assessors, who after a moment's hesitation held out their hands with rye grins.

With a smile of his own Al shook with them. There was a brief awkward moment as Ed's opponent then proffered his hand to her as well, before realisation sent a slight flush down his neck when she didn't respond to the gesture. Even so, they still stuck around for a little while as they chatted with the siblings about their fighting style. After a little while though Mustang intervened, declaring that after such a day he was taking them all out to dinner.

Without a doubt, these siblings had the ability to turn everything upside down.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: hello there :) so here is the next instalment, this one is actually a two parter. Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed- really makes my day to see that people are enjoying this fic :D umm, yeah think that is all I have to say at the moment (sorry, not much of a note but I am sooo tired at the moment :P ) hope that wherever you are you are having a good day!**

Alphonse was lying on his stomach in the corner which was now officially dubbed as 'Elric Central', casually flipping through an alchemical textbook which the team were pretty sure he could only lift when using his automail. Edythe was off somewhere finding snacks- for a girl of her size she really had one hell of an appetite.

Part of her latest hunger spurt was due to what had been a surprisingly active game of rounder's which the siblings had somehow managed to get the whole team involved with during their lunch break. Honestly that had been a shock to the adults when, on taking advantage of the good weather to eat outside, they had come across the young siblings with a bat and a rather peculiar looking ball. Al had quickly explained that had Ed simply loved sports… before… and so they had found a way for her to keep it up.

Inspecting the ball, Riza was surprised to find it covered with holes and with a bell on the inside. Demonstrating, the elder Elric threw it at his sister who stood ready with the bat. As it sailed through the sky, air whistled through the holes in a keening screech, seconds before it made contact with the wooden bat making the bell tinkle as it rocketed back off across the field.

"My mechanic thought it up. Winry really is a genius… because it makes so much noise Ed can track it through the air, and the sound on impact tells her roughly where she hits it to. Anyway, you guys up for a game? It's much easier with more fielders so I am not chasing the ball around as much."  
They had readily agreed, for the space of an hour embracing their inner kid.

Some were distinctly more competitive than others, with Mustang apparently finding out that Ed could hit twice as far as he could to be a personal affront of some kind. In the space of the first five minutes Breda was out of breath from having run to first base only to get stumped out as he attempted a sprint for second. Meanwhile Fuery had originally tried to stay a bit out of the way in deep field, only to discover that Al's automail ensured one hell of a solid hit, the result being similar in his mind to that of an artillery bombardment. Eventually a reluctant Hawkeye had noticed that their break had in fact ended five minutes before…

It was a wonderfully calm afternoon, practically balmy, with that faintly sleepy sense which could only be achieved on a warm summer's day. That is of course, until someone decided to attack Central Headquarters.

The first that they knew about it in Mustang's office was by the faint but unmistakable sound of something exploding in the building. There was a slight tremor through the floorboards as for just a second everyone froze in place. The spell was broken as Mustang and Hawkeye came striding out of the inner office at just the same time as Havoc came bursting through the outer door.  
"We are under attack- no idea who by yet but they set off a bomb on the second floor and there are forces storming the building."

The Colonel somehow managed to keep his voice steady at this turn of events, "alright people, we have practiced for this sort of scenario. Everyone get to your assigned positions. Hawkeye, grab your gun, we are heading to the main impact sight. Any enemy combatants are to be met with whatever force you deem necessary."

"Hang on a minute, sir," Alphonse now broke in before anyone could move an inch, "I'm coming with you!"  
"No- you know the procedure: in the event of any threat you are to lock yourself in my office, safe and out of the way."  
"But Ed is out there!"  
For a moment the man cursed himself- how could he have forgotten about the girl?  
"Jean said the explosion was on the second floor- that is the same as the cafeteria where she was last heading. I have to come with you to find her. You've seen me fight, I won't be a liability or get in your way, but I refuse to sit here whilst my sister is in danger."

The fire in the boy's eyes stilled any arguments which in a situation with more time he would have attempted to make. Instead, he sighed even as he nodded sharply, "Fine then, you stick behind the Lieutenant at all times and do exactly as we say without question."  
Al actually managed a sort of salute, "Yes sir!"  
"Alright then, move out people!"

…..

 _Something hard, cold and smooth was pressed against one cheek, or rather one side of her body was pressed against it… the floor- she must be on the floor. That's right, she had been about to enter the cafeteria when suddenly the world had seemed to end. But what had happened? The air was thick with dust which settled on the back of her throat in a suffocating blanket. There was a harsh tang in the air, like gunpowder and copper and burned steak. Why the hell were her ears ringing?_

That last part was truly terrifying- she couldn't hear anything over the noise, and as such had no way to track her surroundings. The sense of vulnerability was almost crushing, and on instinct she pressed herself closer to the ground. It was only as it started to fade away that Edythe was able to gather enough of her wits to take stock of the situation.

Still flat against the floor, she reached out and patted around with her left hand as far as she could, eager fingers finally curling around the handle of her cane which seemed miraculously to have stayed in one piece. With that faintly reassuring anchor to normality, the small blonde put one hand under her shoulder and tried to lever herself upright, crying out briefly in pain a second later as it seemed like lightning shot through her ribs and she once again made contact with the tiles.

Instead of trying that again, she carefully reached around her with her cane, heart fluttering with relief as it rapped against what could only be a wall just to her right. Gathering her strength, she rolled a little onto one side and began to drag herself towards the side of the room.

The effort made her gasp at the stabbing agony again, inhaling more of the thick air which just set off a coughing fit. The floor was not as smooth as it had always seemed, dozens of small and sharp things catching on her exposed forearms in little sparks of pain. _What the hell happened?_ On making it to the wall, the girl slowly propped herself up against it, the solid presence comfortingly protecting her back.

 _Ok, now I can… what?_ The thought stunned her for a moment as she realised she had no idea what she should be doing. There was no way to tell what situation she had gotten into, her head was not ringing as bad, but now all she could hear was an ominous silence…

 _No, wait, there was something there… it was quiet, hushed, either a fair distance away or the result of a deliberate attempt at stealth. Either way, it was coming closer… a person… adult by their breathing… their footsteps had that unmistakable sound on impacting the floor that could only be made with military issued boots. A slight clink, possibly from the metal hooks which held the uniform's gold braid. Silent thanks to Fuery who let her feel his uniform one time out of curiosity. It was more and more likely that the approaching person was military… or maybe not… from what she could tell she was in the wreckage of something big and bad… how did she know if anyone could be trusted?_

The closer the steps came, the greater her tension, knuckles no doubt turning white as she gripped her cane. They stopped right in front of her, and she felt a presence leaning in close as she hardly dared to breathe… _the dust had settled a bit, new smells seeping past as she grew accustomed to the acrid air, was that… apples? Rustling cloth, they were probably reaching out…_

Fast as lightning she flicked wrist and sent the tip of her cane whipping up like a hornet into where she judged the newcomer's face to be. _Sharp connection on impact, a faint jarring in her wrist, must have made contact with a cheekbone… jarring inhalation, no shout? Trying to stay quiet then._

"Hey watch it kid!" _the voice was harsh and quiet, although somehow also concerned… and strangely familiar… where did she know it from?  
_ "Jeez, at least I know you are still alive, wasn't sure there for a moment." _It was different from how she had heard it before, clearer… telephone- that was it, she had heard this person over a telephone in Mustang's office, a weird conversation involving angels baking apple pies… which meant…  
_ "Lieutenant Colonel Hughes?"

The wave of surprise from the man was palpable, "Umm, yeah that's me. Have we met before? And how could you tell with your eyes closed?"  
"Are they closed? Oh, and no we haven't met in person, but I have heard you over the phone. You are a friend of Colonel Mustang right?"  
"Yeah, Roy and I are like… wait what do you mean are they closed? Can't you… hang on… are you Edythe Elric?"  
"That would be me."  
"Oh crap- sorry, Roy told me about you but I didn't realise, well he said but it hadn't clicked so to speak, that you were…"  
"Blind, yeah I get that a lot. Look, what the hell has happened here?"

"Seriously? Just look aroun- aah, right, umm, there was a bomb. Headquarters is under attack and I was just around the corner so decided to see if I could help anyone. And here I am. Just think- if I had been walking just a little faster I could have been caught in the blast- what would my darling Gracia have said then?"

Ed decided to take that as a rhetorical question. If there was one thing her inadvertent eavesdropping of Mustang and Hughes' conversations it was that the man could sure rattle on about his family if prompted.

That particular train of thought was interrupted as something caught her attention from down the corridor. Involuntarily her head swung towards the new sounds, an unconscious frown crossing her face as she focused and then began muttering frantically to her new ally. Not that she knew the man, but he was close to the Colonel, and frankly she needed help and knew it.  
"Listen here Hughes- there are people over that way, coming closer, a lot… can't tell who."  
"Seriously? Wow, ok I will trust your judgement on that… then they must be coming from the cafeteria… as that was the source of the explosion it would probably make them enemies…"

She nodded, "It would most likely be best if we were to get out of here or hide pretty damn quickly."  
"True… can you stand?"  
The girl grit her teeth in frustration, "Yeah, tried that and it didn't work out so well… might need your help."  
"Okay, well you could lean on me, but frankly everywhere is covered in debris- are you going to be able to make your way around."  
"Probably not fast enough." She grumbled the response, hating the sense of weakness but forced it back down.  
"Fine, I will just have to carry you then."

A split second later she gave an involuntary full body flinch as she suddenly felt arms circle around the joints of her knees and under her shoulders.  
"Umm, sorry, didn't mean to startle you. Ready? I will lift you on three. One, two…"  
The man hoisted her up into the air and suddenly the world vanished in a rush of agony which drowned all of her other senses even as she gasped for air beyond screams which wouldn't come. Faintly, as if from a great distance she heard the rumble of her attempted rescuer as he probably tried to ask her what was wrong. The roaring in her ears finally eased enough for her to choke out, "Yeah, apparently injured."  
"Dammit- I need to roll you over."

Unable to protest, she felt the world tilt until her face was unfortunately once again in contact with the floor. Even with her enhanced hearing it was hard to pick up the slight hiss of shock and horror from her new friend.  
"That bad huh?"  
"It would seem so. Look, you have a rather large shard of glass wedged into your back between a couple of ribs."  
"Really? Thank God for adrenaline- couldn't feel it even when I was leaning on it." And whether out of shock or hysteria she actually wheezed a small laugh which died pretty quickly.

"Alright, I can't move you until I take it out and bind up that wound or else I could cause far more damage. Do you think we have time for that?"  
"No chance- they are almost here. Look, you are just going to have to leave me." It was said in a tone of voice no child her age should ever need to use, and suddenly her sightless eyes seemed infinitely older than they had any right to.

"No I can't do that- they will probably kill you! We are just going to have to think of a way to-"  
"Shut up! There is not enough time for anything like that. I am just gonna have to play dead or something until they are gone. You need to get out of here before they arrive and see or shoot you. Go get help, find someone who knows what is going on. You are of no use here."

Still he dithered, and Ed tried to soften her tone, "I will be fine. If I lay on my front and breathe shallowly they won't notice I am alive. If my wound looks as bad as you say they will probably figure that I am just another casualty and move on. But this will only work if you run- now!"

Although the decision burned in his gut, Maes had no choice and he knew it, nodding reluctantly. A heartbeat later he caught himself and guiltily made a noise of agreement. "Fine, but mark my words young lady- I will come back, and I will be bringing the cavalry. Just stay here and stay down."  
"Fine by me… just- if you happen to run into my brother Alphonse, tell him… tell him 'little sis says fetch.' He will understand… can you do that for me?"  
"Of course."  
"Great- now get moving, they will be here any second."

 _The sound of glass crunching under foot, retreating from her position. Gingerly she lay face down on the ground, cane underneath her body to keep it from getting knocked by anyone passing by. The tiles were cold through her clothes, greedily stealing the heat from her skin. One ear open for the approaching people, she focused all her attention on imitating a corpse. Lower heartrate, breathing as shallow and faint as she could manage. Think still thoughts._


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: hey there, well first off thanks for still reading this :P so, here we have the second half of the two-parter section... honestly not my favourite chapter but in my defence I have been drowning in end of year exams (thankfully finished halleluiah so I will be able to get writing a lot more over the holidays). Umm, yeah think that is pretty much it- hope you enjoy, and that wherever you are you are having a good day!**

Mustang, Hawkeye and Alphonse were crouched together under a desk in an office which they had been forced to duck into as they came up with a plan. Their previous idea of heading straight to the initial explosion site had been derailed entirely by the arrival of what seemed to be heavily armed groups of invaders.

They had only reached the third floor when the windows of the corridor had burst inwards as men came rappelling down from the roof and kicked them in. Before the intruders could get their bearings and open fire, Roy had sent a blast wave of flames as a screen whilst Hawkeye kicked open a random door and pulled her companions inside. Alphonse had quickly sketched a circle and sealed the door, also trapping them in the process.

And now there they were, for the space of about a minute just trying to calm their breathing.

Sounds came through the office walls, rough shouts and heavy footfalls as the latest attackers were no doubt trying to establish control over the entire building. Mustang bared his teeth at the thought in a parody of a smile. That would no doubt prove much harder than anticipated. This was after all a military unit full of personnel trained to respond to just such threats.

Even so, they had definitely been caught on the back foot by this whole situation, which had the potential to get extremely ugly extremely quickly, relatively speaking of course since they were already up a creek…

"Colonel!" Alphonse's hiss cut through the officer's admittedly wandering thoughts, and he turned to look at the teenager with a raised eyebrow. So far the kid had done as he promised, but Roy was still wary of him going off half cocked, or worse getting hurt somehow. Dammit- why had he let him tag along?  
"What is it Al?"  
"I think I have a way out of here. Look- if I am right about where we are right now, the cafeteria should be directly below us and then two hundred meters to the left."

His superior stared at him. "How the hell could you know that?"  
"I had to walk Ed around everywhere for the first couple of days so she knew the building layout- I memorised it at the same time."  
"Alright, so it isn't too far from us, but we are still on the wrong floor." Naturally it was Hawkeye who got to the heart of the matter.

The elder Elric had been drawing on the ground with his little stick of chalk as she spoke, and Mustang instantly recognised the shape of a transmutation circle taking form as the teen spoke up again. "At the moment yes. Give me a sec and I can get us down there no problem."  
"Alright, as we seem to be penned in up here I guess it is worth a shot. Hopefully the second floor is not as busy."  
"I doubt it will be sir- since that was where the bomb went off, it is likely that they will assign less men to subdue that sector. Even so, we should go in expecting a fight."

The younger alchemist slipped the chalk back into his pocket and looked to Mustang who nodded sharply. Taking a deep breath, Al pressed his hands to the white lines he had so carefully traced out, the slight thump of his automail on the carpet drowned out by the sound of an activating circle with a flash of almost-lightening. A split second later it cleared to reveal a newly formed and surprisingly neatly constructed staircase leading down one floor.

Hastily in case anybody watching below had been alerted to their approach by the noise, the small group ran down the steps. Hawkeye and Mustang went to the end of the corridor in the direction of the cafeteria, leaning their heads around the corner and scanning for enemies whilst Al swiftly sketched another circle to unmake the stairs and hopefully buy themselves some time.

The teenager ran quickly to stand just behind his superiors, waiting for the signal to move out. The need to find his sister was burning through his veins, a building urgency thrumming in his mind. As much as she hated to be hovered over, he always felt responsible for Edythe's safety and was fiercely protective of her. The current scenario was in all honesty one of his worst nightmares. Once he found her they would obey protocol and lie low, but the thought of cowering in Mustang's office as originally ordered made him almost physically sick.

His train of thoughts was interrupted by the sound of running footsteps, and seconds later a man came charging around the corner crashing straight into the startled Colonel who almost snapped his fingers before pulling up short.  
"Hughes?"  
"Roy! Boy am I glad to see you! No time to stop and chat- we gotta get out of here sharpish."  
"Wait, what do you mean?"  
"I mean there are tangos on my tail and I don't want my darling Gracia to have to get a particularly bad phone call this evening. Imagine if I died! Nope- better to leg it for now."

In the back of Mustang's mind a small part noted that unless Maes shut up they would all still be standing around when his pursuers caught up. As if picking up on his musings, Hawkeye took control of them, directing the other three down the corridor and into another office. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Alphonse tense as they moved away from his sister's supposed location.

Once they were all safely out of harm's way for the time being the Lieutenant nodded in greeting to Hughes who smiled without humour in response. It was Mustang who spoke up first.  
"Alright, so what the hell happened to you?"  
"I was just around the corner from the first blast… it's bad Roy, the cafeteria and area around are really messed up. Quite a few casualties from what I could tell. I couldn't stick around though as there were more coming from the café and I doubted they wanted to buy me pudding. Not that I would want any of course- my darling Gracia makes such good lunches for me that I would never want to have…"

Alphonse interrupted what Mustang was dreading would become another wife/daughter rant which he wasn't sure he would survive.  
"You said casualties… did you see my sister?" His voice was low and barely holding steady.  
Maes stared at the boy in surprise for a moment, apparently having not noticed him before. "Your sister? Hang on- another blonde? Blind?"  
"Yes!"  
"That would make you Al I guess… oh and yes I did see her… she's umm, well at ground zero."

All of the colour drained from the kid's face and it looked for a moment like he was about to keel over.  
"Was… was she…"  
"Oh God no! She was pretty much fine – a bit banged up but, well more than a bit… alright she was injured, but still alive. Quite amazing really, she was the one who warned me that there were enemy reinforcements coming and told me to run. I couldn't get her out in time though… she did give me a message in case I found you. She said to tell you 'Lil sis says fetch.'"

Alphonse let out a sound that was half sob half laugh, a bit of colour thankfully returning to his cheeks.  
"Do you know what she meant?" Hawkeye asked him gently.  
"Yeah." He took a deep, shuddering breath, "It's kind of a joke between us really. After the accident she found it pretty hard to adjust in some ways and would sometimes lose her temper. Once when she was trying to get used to her cane she got so frustrated tripping over things that she threw the stick across the room."

He was actually smiling a little at the memories, even though they were tinged with a hint of bitterness. "Well, I went and picked it up and brought it back. She said I was better at fetch than any dog. It's kind of a running joke now- when she drops things or can't find them and I offer to help out she tells me to fetch. The 'Lil sis'… well as you have probably realised she hates being called short and tends to lose her temper… oh my god."  
"What? Alphonse?"  
"If that message means what I think then it would probably be best if we lay low until we get her signal."

Mustang was by this point confused, annoyed, and slightly concerned about his youngest subordinate. "Alphonse Elric tell me exactly what that message meant."  
"It means she has a plan to take out the enemy and then needs us to go in and get her out because she is actually in need of some help."  
"Why the hell wouldn't she just say that? Why the cryptic message?"  
"Probably because I would be the only one to understand and she hates asking strangers for help. Frankly she barely even stands asking me… and be honest- if she said that wouldn't you stop and ask for details? If there were people coming it was faster to say what she did."

Roy snorted softly, muttering something about the military hiring overly dramatic kids just to annoy him. Riza ignored his comments, and instead placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.  
"Are you alright?"  
"I'm angry. I hate it when she pulls stunts like this and there is nothing I can do to help until the dust settles."  
"Well I wouldn't say that." They both looked at Hughes who had been rummaging around in the desks whilst Al explained the message from Ed, and now triumphantly held up a walkie talkie which had been forgotten in the general evacuation chaos.

"If we can get the right channel we can coordinate with the other squads around the building and get a general idea of how things are going and where to strike once we rescue Ed. Any idea when-"  
He was cut short by the sound of something either exploding of collapsing very close by which sent violent tremors through the ground.  
Al sighed, "Alright, let's go pick her up."

…

 _Footsteps… many, many footsteps… adults in hobnailed boots. Clink of metal from what were probably weapons, harsh breathing. The smell of acrid smoke, fried onions and what might have been a cigar… a rumble of gruff voices… all getting closer and closer._

Ed only allowed herself to take the most shallow of breaths, barely enough to stay conscious in truth but she would rather be light headed than dead. It was a personal preference. At her core was a heavy ball of tension which grew by the moment as she kept thinking still thoughts. There was a steadily pulsing agony radiating through her back, waves of pain seeping into every nerve even as she felt the slow slide of what could only be blood crawl across her ribs.

 _The creak of leather boots and a slight popping of joints, breathe ghosting across her face as someone leaned over her. It took every ounce of self-control not to flinch as fingers came into contact with her bare skin as whoever was in front of her lifted an eyelid. There was a wafting of air, was he waving his hand?_

"Yep this one is dead too."  
 _Harsh, guttural voice, slightly accented like a person she had once heard who came from up north. The hand withdrew, the alien touch thankfully leaving and she pricked her ears up to try and catch their conversation.  
_ "That's a shame really- such a young 'un"  
"Don't start that nonsense- everyone here is our enemy."

 _A heavy sigh._ "Yeah, yeah, I know. Still say it's a shame though."  
"That's enough. We need to get moving, Matthias, it won't be long before we have troops coming after us and we need to get to the Fuhrer's office before then. Raphiel radioed that his lot are keeping the initial response forces busy but it won't last for long. We need to get the documents and then we can blow this place sky high. By the time they sift through the rubble and realise we aren't actually dead our superiors will already be moving their forces into position. Our mission is bigger than our own distaste of the fallout."

 _Someone grunted in what could have been either acknowledgement or agreement. Footsteps again, definitely seven people, just passing her position. No- there were eight, one was still standing still in front of her. She could hear him breathe… and then a shuffle, a shift of air, and he was moving away leaving a faint trace of pine sap in his wake._

She clenched her teeth in anticipation of the pain which flares through her as she brings her hands together awkwardly in front of her chest, rising up onto her elbows and hissing between her teeth at the pain. _They notice, she can feel their attention focus in, but they are too late as she presses her hands against the glass covered floor. Something presses into and cut a shallow line of hurt on her left palm, there is a sudden flush of warmth through her hands a forearms, and then the floor is singing._

Al never understood when she tried to explain how her alchemy worked… and she didn't think he ever would… did she even want him to? Really? It was a rush, every time, to embrace the world around her for the space of a heartbeat. She could feel it all in that moment when her hands clapped then touched the surface she was changing. She could feel the material beneath her finger tips, every grain in wood or smoothed chip in stone, sense the current of life as it flowed through the very air which she breathed. It was coming home, accepting, belonging… but more than that… it was like seeing again but with eyes beyond what her own had ever dared to search for, a vision of the whole of creation in a snapshot. More than light could ever show her, or sound waves ever tell, beyond any spectrum of measure and so much more. It was all there, in a rush of perfection as she took it, held it, reshaped it in a glorious artwork of understanding…

And then it was over. The moment passed. The darkness returned and the power, the euphoria was no more… but the memory remained.

 _Cursing in their coarse accents, pointless struggles against the stone hands which had reached out to ensnare the would-be attackers. But no- something was wrong, there was a faint clink of a metal pin sliding free from a holder, a snick of an engaging timepiece… she could hear it clicking, counting down, and coming closer… on instinct she reached out with her cane, slapping it into the hard, round object like she was once again back playing Rounders on the field…_

 _And the world vanished once more…_

 _…_

Mustang's group came charging around the corner and pulled up short at the sight which greeted them. Smoke and dust was only just beginning to settle, the slightly confusing silhouettes of people emerging. Eight men, held fast by hands of stone which seemed to have pieces ripped out of them by explosive force yet remained unbreakable.

One was shouting at another, "Why the hell would you try throwing a grenade?"  
"I'm sorry sir- I just… I… I thought it would break us out."  
"You are lucky she hit it away from us- that blast would have wiped us all out!"

And then the scene clarified further as the clouded air stilled and settled to reveal a large section of the wall and portion of the ceiling were no longer in the right place, but rather scattered around the corridor and probably the outer lawn. The Colonel's musings were interrupted as Al let lose a shout of pure terror and darted past the apprehended criminals to where a small figure was pressed against one wall. The rest were a split second behind the boy as he oh so gently placed a hand on his sister's shoulder and began to roll her over.

"Hey kid- watch out for the piece of glass in her back!" Hughes' shout only just reached the kid in time, who instead of shifting her all the way over settled for propping her up on his lap as he held her in his arms.  
"Ed! Ed! Come on- say something! Sister!"

Mustang didn't realise he had taken the Lieutenant's hand and begun squeezing it until a faint groan from the unconscious girl brought him back to reality and he let go with a faint flush on his cheeks. She was still alive, injured true, but alive.  
"Hawkeye, Hughes, go round up some medics and MPs to take this lot into custody and treat Edythe." The orders continued to be barked as the officer took charge of the situation, all of it carrying on around the oblivious children who sat at the centre of the chaos.

….

The sounds of intense bickering echoed up and down the corridors of the jail block, voices far too young to be in such a place and yet nobody was commenting. Underpinning the voices was the steady rhythm of feet, and a sharper tapping of a cane against the tiled floor. A particular prisoner in a non-descript cell raised his head in surprise as the noise came to a stop right outside his door, then jumped as something metal rapped against the barrier.

"Anybody home?" It was a girl's voice, a slightly strained undertone as if she were annoyed. He got up from his bed and stepped up to the viewing hatch. His eyes widened in shock as he stared at the duo standing before him.

They were certainly an odd pair, an almost matching set of golden hair and eyes, although one combination was glaring at him with cold fury and the other were gazing at nothing at all. The girl was leaning rather heavily on her brother's arm, apparently in some discomfort or pain from her facial expression, and the prisoner could just make out the edge of a bandage peeping from under the bottom of her shirt.

"Well? I asked a question."  
"Uhh, yeah I'm here…" he sounded unsure, surprised by this turn of events… what was the girl doing? Then again what did it really matter?

Their team had failed their mission, been captured along with the rest of the assault force who had apparently run into some sort of really strong Alchemist before the Fuhrer himself had got involved with a sword… And all he had thought of in the darkest corner of his mind was the image of this girl lying as if dead in the aftermath of their actions, taunting him that they deserved their disgrace. Was that why she was here? To rail at them? To tell him of her hatred and the pain caused by his choices?

"Great." And then she inhaled deeply, frowning in concentration… _pine sap…_ "Yep, definitely the right one. Ok, listen here and listen hard cause I am only gonna say this once." She took a breath. "You… are actually half decent I reckon. True you are a criminal and deserve punishment but… well I heard what you said. You have a conscience… shit- Al you know I am no good at this stuff."  
"Well you are the one who said you wanted to say something. I don't even know why- I mean he's the reason you got hurt and-"  
"Don't start that one again!"

"Don't you hate me?" the soft question of the prisoner halted the brewing argument and a pair of tarnished coins turned back towards him.  
"Hate you? There would be no point. I might hate your actions, but you yourself… I think you might actually be ok… deep down, like really deep down. Yeah, guess that is all I had to say really. Not much but- I thought I should say it… Goodbye Matthias."

And then they were leaving, heading back away from the cell and into sunlight and freedom. And for the first time in a week, the prisoner, Matthias allowed himself a very faint smile.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: hellooo! i'm back :P sorry been so long since last update, been really busy and slightly distracted but finally finished this chapter :) getting a familiar face thrown into the mix this time, hope you guys like! please R &R to let me know what you think! hope that wherever you are you are having a good day :)**

CHAPTER 5

The first indication which Mustang's team had that their day was about to get a whole lot more interesting as when Ed suddenly stiffened where she sat cross legged on the floor, hands falling still on her typewriter as her head jerked towards the door. The machine was her new toy- the notoriously tight purse strings of the Research and Development department loosening just a little when Alphonse had pointed out that if his sister could type then her reports would actually be legible. It had been only the work of two days before she had mastered how to use it, and since had rarely been parted from it. Every time she sat to make notes it was with an undisguisable grin, even on a day like today when the humid weather had everyone out of sorts.

But now the constant background noise of hammering keys had fallen silent. The adults in the room were shocked when an expression of something which might have actually been fear ghosted across the girl's face. A split second later she had managed to dive behind the desk her brother was sitting at, pushing past his damaged automail leg to get as deep in the foot well as she could squeeze.

"Red alert!" his sister's squeaked alarm seemed to electrify Al, who suddenly began looking around frantically as if for his own hiding place. Alas he was out of luck, and a moment later a hurricane in human form came bursting through the door with a shriek reminiscent of a banshee who had stubbed its toe.

"Alphonse Elric how dare you be so reckless as to wreck my beautiful automail that I spent so long making only for you to go and be a complete idiot who doesn't take care of it and doesn't call until it is busted up and you need me to come all the way to Central!"  
Havoc just stared at the blonde who had come charging in and delivered such a tirade without apparently needing to pause for air. Fuery had copied Ed's technique and hidden under his desk, Falman was doing his best imitation of being invisible, and Breda was so stunned he didn't even notice that he had dropped his sandwich.

"Aah Winry Rockbell, so good of you to come on such short notice." Hawkeye's smooth voice seemed to startle the others back to reality, and to a degree lessened the look of embarrassment and terror on the face of the elder Elric.  
"Oh, no worries Miss Hawkeye. I know what a handful a pair of Elrics can be. Come to think of it- where is Edythe?" this second part was directed at Al who somewhat sheepishly pointed down, earning a glare from their childhood friend as she realised what he meant.

With an aggravated huff she stormed across the room as Al kicked his sister with his flesh foot until she emerged from under the desk and stood behind his chair instead.  
"Umm, hi Winry… long time no see." It was said with a grin and the other girl rolled her eyes.  
"Ed I have told you before that isn't funny. But hi, I'm glad to see you are alright, unlike your idiot of a brother." And with that she swatted said brother around the back of the head… although 'swatted' was perhaps the most polite way of describing the sudden materialisation of a wrench which quickly made contact with his skull.  
"Careful Winry- if he gets blood on those reports they will have to rewrite them all." The team just stared in shock at Hawkeye's calm, or rather cold hearted, statement.

By this point Mustang had come out from his office, drawn by the sheer level of noise and stared with a smirk as the new arrival continued to shout at the Elrics, demanding an explanation for the latest mechanical issue. The expression widened as he noticed Ed trying edge away from the scene only for her brother to snag her sleeve and hold her fast. Taking pity for them just a little, he decided to chip into the conversation.

"Miss Rockbell? It wasn't entirely his own fault you know- just some idiot in R&D who was trying out a new transition circle for metal but it misfired and warped everything metallic in the room."  
"How would that have been an issue? Your leg is made of a mix of metals… in fact to avoid this exact problem if I remember right. Honestly, what is the point in making a special leg which should be resistant to alchemy if you are just gonna go right ahead and-"  
"Well the circle managed to affect all the steel bolts." Al mustered up enough courage to break into the tirade.

Winry pulled up short, just catching the next words of her rant with a thoughtful expression. "Ooh, well that is a bit different then. Didn't really have a choice as they were the only ones for sale in Risembool…" and suddenly her eyes lit up with near demonic glee. "Does that mean I get to go shopping in Central?!"

The thought seemed to send her into what could only be described as a hysteric fit. Breda was about to make a comment about women, stereotypes and shopping, when his ears finally caught up with the excited squealing of what she wanted to buy. Was this girl seriously losing it over the thought of the mechanic and hardware stores? He just caught the younger Elric's mutterings about the dangers of obsessed gear heads, although apparently the 'gear head' in question missed her input.

Since the proposed shopping expedition was technically for a work related issue, Hawkeye relented enough on the team to let Havoc accompany Winry on her way around Central, which had the man grinning smugly at his co-workers for gaining what was essentially the afternoon off. It was also decided that Ed would go with them, since Al was having trouble walking, to assess the new bolts' alchemical properties and so hopefully avoid similar accidents in the future. Strangely this was met with some resistance from Al, which was followed by a hastily whispered conference before the brother finally relented.

It wasn't until the group was on their way that Winry asked the other girl what Al's problem had been.  
"Oh nothing serious- just there was a storm forecast for today and he didn't want me to get caught in it. You know how protective he can be sometimes." It was said with an easy smile, but Havoc still noticed the expression on Winry's face at the words. He guessed there was some sort of history between the friends that he didn't know about. Unsurprising really, but he couldn't help the feeling of vague curiosity.

Three hours later Havoc was pretty sure that he now knew where every single automail related shop was in the city, and was convinced his feet were going to fall off unless they took a break. Ed seemed to be similarly worn out, rubbing at her temples as if to ward off a brewing headache. He nudged her gently on the shoulder, "You alright there Chief?"  
She smiled a little wanly, "Yeah, just takes a lot to keep focusing this much- I've never been to this section of the city before so trying to keep my surroundings in order is a bit tougher."  
He almost smacked himself in the head for not realising that of course this was taking a toll on the girl, and when Winry came bounding back from a shop window she had been drooling over across the road, he firmly stated that they were going to have a rest.

Even the obsessed mechanic had to admit that it was very enjoyable to pause for a moment, especially when presented with a particularly lovely slice of chocolate cake and a large mug of tea. Leaning back in his chair, Havoc scanned the sky full of gathering clouds and nodding to himself a little. "Looks like your brother was right about a storm coming in. That's alright though, we can always catch a taxi back to drop you back at the hotel and then the barracks. Don't know why he was getting so worried really."

Ed didn't offer anything to the conversation, sightless eyes pointed away and slightly up as if trying to scan the skies for herself. It was Winry instead who responded, "Oh Al has always been over protective since we were tiny. After the accident, well I guess he just became even more so."  
"Understandable I suppose. That is what brothers are for after all." She nodded in agreement, shooting a glance at the still distracted girl next to her, before a comfortable silence settled over the trio.

It seemed that their stop off had made Winry realise just how tired she actually was, especially after travelling so far that morning, and so it was decided that they would call it quits for the day. After all she had bought the necessary bolts within the first hour, the rest of the time had been spent on things which she could always come back for before she went home again. The first spots of rain were just starting to fall as Havoc managed to hail two cabs, one for each girl after Ed insisted she would be fine getting back by herself and Winry looked ready to drop off to sleep where she stood. Thankfully where they had ended up was actually pretty close to his own apartment so he didn't mind the idea of walking home.

He waved them off, then turned on his heel and began a brisk jog back to his flat, hoping to make it before the storm broke in earnest.

….

Ed sighed to herself, thinking that it was almost inevitable that her taxi would break down before she had reached the barracks. The driver had apologised profusely but she had waved off his concern and simply asked where they had ended up. The street was only a ten minute walk away from the barracks, she knew the route well, and she would be fine.

So she had walked away, stick beating out its rhythm on the pavement, a staccato echo of her own footsteps.

But the storm tuned out to be faster.

…

Colonel Mustang's phone rang shrilly at the corner of his desk, the tone setting his teeth on edge. For some reason that sound was painful when it was raining. Then again, everything was cause for annoyance in such weather. His irritation had faded to curiosity and then concern as the voice of Alphonse Elric had come through the wire.  
"Colonel! So sorry to bother you but I was wondering if you had heard anything from Ed?"  
"Ed? No- is something the matter?"  
"… possibly… she hasn't come home yet. I called Havoc and he said he had put her in a cab back to the barracks but she never turned up. I wanted to go looking but I can't walk and Winry is on the other side of town and I can't ask her to come through the storm but you are closer and-"

The boy's voice had been rising in pitch as he spoke, clearly becoming more agitated as scenarios played out in his imagination.  
"Ok, ok, listen Al, I will go out and look for her alright? Just stay calm- she can handle herself after all."  
There was a heavy sigh, "that's what I am not so sure of. Sure normally she could take anything on, but what with the storm… listen, Colonel, don't tell anyone but… well Ed is deathly afraid of storms. That's why I am so worried- she must be scared sick out there right now and I am useless!"  
"Hey enough of that- you are helping her by telling me, alright? Just sit tight, I'm on my way."

….

Ed had loved storms when she was little, she had adored how the sky would fracture into fragments with a burst of light and then bellow its fury. As a child she had eagerly watched the skies darken, waiting for the silver threads to strike the earth. One time the lightning had almost gently kissed the tree in the field across from their house, and all the night had been painted with reds and golds in defiance of the sheeting rain.

But that had been before.

Now she was huddled in the mouth of an alleyway with her hands pressed tightly in futility against her ears as she bent over her knees. The rain caressed her face, an attempt to soothe which was leaving her chilled to the bone, but it did no good. Normally she would never cover her ears, she needed her hearing too much, she couldn't afford to be denied her primary sense… but then there was the enraged noise from which seemed to radiate from all around.

It was _LOUD_ but so much more than just painful on her eardrums. The sound of the heavens cracking reverberated through her very bones in a jarring sensation which left her feeling queasy. She felt her own futile scream rip from her throat in a pale imitation of her tormentor. Did people not realise how long thunder echoed for? Rolling across the world in a gradually fading cascade until only the hiss of the rain remained. But she knew it wasn't over, that any moment now the whole world would shake apart once more, it was just waiting until she let down her guard.

 _Splashes, sharper than the beating downpour, footsteps, someone was coming. There was a voice from in front of her but through the din of the rain and her own hands she couldn't make out what it was saying… but she couldn't lower her hands, that was what the thunder was waiting for… a touch on her shoulder and she flinched as if it had been the lightning, withdrawing further into herself because this was a stranger, no scents making it past the wall of water falling from the sky and-_

 _Arms wrapped around her, pressing her close to whoever had found her. Her face was buried against what felt like a shoulder… wood smoke… damp wool… spices of nutmeg and cinnamon… a brief hint of gun oil and sandalwood… she breathed them all in…_

"Colonel?" her voice was almost lost in fabric of his heavy military overcoat but he still just about caught the word. He released a breath he hadn't known he had been holding as she recognised him. The picture she had made when he spotted her through the rain remained burned onto his retinas…  
"I'm here Ed. I'm here."

A flicker of lightning illuminated the scene, followed a heartbeat later by the roar of the thunder and the child in his arms flinched and yelled into his shoulder out of pure fright. And it was then he understood, at least in part. Memories from when he was a child came swimming back, of Madam Christmas finding him crouched in his room afraid of his dreams.

He began to rub circles on Edythe's back, muttering soothing nonsense that he wasn't even sure she could hear. Somehow it seemed to work just a little as she seemed to ease ever so slightly.  
"Is it the thunder?"  
She nodded into his jacket.  
"It startles you?"  
Another nod.  
"I see. Ok, we are almost back at the barracks and it would be best for both of us to get out of this rain before we catch pneumonia. I'm going to carry you alright? I will warn you when the lightning strikes so you can brace yourself for the thunder. Ok?"

Not waiting for a response, he scooped the girl up into his arms, surprised at how light she seemed even when soaked to the bone. True to his word he started towards the barracks, the light from the windows guiding him through the murk of the twilight. A split second later light arched across the clouds and he gripped his burden a little tighter and said "now" in as calm a voice as he could manage. She tensed in his arms, bracing herself, and when the noise rocked the world around them let out a harsh whine through gritted teeth.

Mustang stayed, even once they were both inside and back at the room shared by the siblings, even once Al had frantically brought out dry towels and hot drinks, even once the exhausted girl had finally fallen asleep as the storm passed at long last. Because he kept his word and acted as her eyes, squeezing her hand each time the lightning flashed so she had time to brace herself against the coming onslaught.

When it was all over, the Colonel made his way towards the door intending to head home and grab a few hours' sleep himself. Before he could leave though, the expression on Al's face held him at the doorway. The boy shuffled his feet slightly, looked faintly embarrassed, and then launched himself across the room as best he could on one working leg.

The hug almost knocked the officer over backwards out of shock, and for a second he froze before gently returning the gesture. And suddenly the bone deep chill from the rain, the tiredness weighing on his limbs, was completely and utterly worth it.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: hi there! so yes, I am still alive. sorry it's been so long since I last updated- I blame life and exams/essays. anywhoo, here is the latest instalment, am also working on a bit of a two-parter which will eventually go up but no promises as to when. I'll shut up now, hope you enjoy and wherever you are that you are having a good day! :D**

CHAPTER 6

"Come on Lieutenant Hawkeye- try and make this aggravating shrimp see sense and just accept things for how they are. There is nothing she can do to get out of it, and frankly all the screaming is starting to make the windows shake."  
The woman in question shot her superior officer a singularly unamused look. "And why is that my responsibility sir? Unless I am much mistaken it was you who set this chain of events in motion after all."  
Mustang turned to stare at the scene in front of him for a solid minute. "Please?"

She heaved a heavy, overly expressive sigh, and turned away from him. Somehow this one movement managed to convey the condensed scorn of the entire human race for his cowardice. Roy, for one, felt that his reluctance was more than warranted. After all- his job description included laying his life on the line of fire from any and all enemies of Amestris. This categorically did not include the stipulation that he sacrifice himself to the wrath of a teenage girl throwing the mother of all temper tantrums in his office. No… those duties were best delegated to the only member of his team who could apparently control the over stimulated firecracker known commonly as Edythe Elric.

Said subordinate swiftly marched across the office and laid a heavy hand on the shoulder of the girl, forcing her mad bouncing to reduce to a level of vibrating rage, in what was to the opinion of all a marked improvement. Al in particular breathed an audible sigh of relief at the apparent opportunity to discuss the issue at hand in a more civilised manner. Naturally such hopes were dashed, as the energy previously designated to explosive movement was now free to be channelled to a vocal volume which possibly defied several scientific laws.

"Ed. Enough." The steady voice of the lieutenant somehow managed to undercut the outraged cries of the hyperactive kid who huffily acquiesced at long last and let herself be guided to sit down on Havoc's chair since the man himself was out on a cigarette break.

Now seemed like a good time for the Colonel to attempt the conversation again. "Alright Elrics, I get that you aren't pleased-" there was a faintly strangled sound from Ed which was swiftly stifled by Hawkeye tightening her grip on the girl's bicep in a warning manner- "but it can't be helped."  
"Look, Colonel, we get that this is important, but perhaps making us go isn't exactly the best…"  
"What my overly polite brother is attempting to say is- are you bloody kidding me?"  
"Ed! That was not very civil. And it is not his fault after all- it is part of the job-  
"Well where in the contract did it say anything about-"  
"Ok so maybe not specifically covered, but 'attendance upon request' was stated-"

Mustang rubbed his temples as the siblings once again began to dissolve into what, despite the legal terms which were beginning to be thrown around, was just a regular bickering session.  
"Alright! I get it- you guys don't want to go. But newsflash kiddo- your brother is right. Hell, even I don't want to go to some damned-"  
"Language sir. They are children after all."  
Ed seemed torn between snorting in amusement at Hawkeye's admonishment to the Colonel and exasperation at the potential allusion to her small stature.

"Oh for- look, this is non-negotiable. Think of it as a direct order."  
"When have I for one ever given the impression that I would obey you-"  
"Not from me- from the Fuhrer. You know- the one who pays you salaries? Well according to him certain military personnel are required to attend the upcoming ball, and sorry to tell you, but you both are on the short list. What's so bad about this anyway? I mean yeah, not the most thrilling way to spend an evening, but I don't see why you are getting so het up over this."  
"I just don't want to waste my time having to get trussed up in some stupid bloody dress and talk to a load of random strangers-"  
"That's what this is all about? You are worried about looking bad? For heaven's sake why do you of all people even care about that?"

Their voices had been steadily rising in volume during the argument, despite Al's steadying hand on his sister's shoulder which tightened in warning as her own language slipped. But at that last comment there was a distinct lull, and an unreadable expression flitted across the girl's face. A second later it was replaced by an award winning sneer as she shook off Al and marched towards the door, spine straight and head held high. The effect was somewhat ruined as the door slammed shut behind her with an ear splitting crash.

The look which Hawkeye gave him could have frozen magma. "Excuse me sir. I believe that it would be best if I were to see to Ed." The lieutenant turned to Al. "Alphonse… just don't mark up his face." And with that she too left, although with far less abuse of the office fixtures.

Al turned to the Colonel, who stared back with a stony expression. "Look, if you are going to make a fuss about going-"  
"I was not planning on saying anything about that. And until ten seconds ago I would have helped to get Ed on board. But not after what you just said. I really thought you were different." Disappointment seemed to drip from the boy's words, a pain felt on behalf of his sister standing in stark accusation from his golden eyes.

Not saying another word, the boy turned and also left, presumably to find his sibling, leaving a now thoroughly confused Mustang. He turned to the rest of his men who were still in the office, all looking slightly awkward.  
"What on earth did I do?"  
"Really boss? You don't know?" Breda sighed at the clueless expression on his superior's face.  
"You asked why she should care what she looks like." To Mustang's surprise it was Fuery who spoke up next. "I don't know how you meant that to sound, but as a bystander it seemed in pretty poor taste if you ask me."

And at that point Mustang had to resist smacking his head into his desk as the penny finally dropped.

….

The ballroom was almost full by the time that Mustang finally caught sight of the Elric siblings trying to slip through the general flow of guests as unobtrusively as possible. He actually took a moment longer after seeing them to recognise the duo, dressed up as they both were in suitably formal attire. A split second after he realised that it was Hawkeye, resplendent in her dress uniform (which although it was the same as every other soldier's seemed somehow far more flattering…) who was guiding them to a more sparsely populated section of the hall.

Casually snagging a glass of champagne from one of the circling waiters the Colonel weaved his way through the throng until he was standing just behind his subordinate. She greeted him without even turning, making him raise an eyebrow briefly. He never got how she was able to do that.  
"So, I see that coming to a party did not in fact result in your dramatic deaths." He ignored the mutter from the younger sibling which sounded suspiciously like "Whatever, you goddamned bastard" and continued, "In fact I would ever say that the pair of you scrub up well."

It was the truth. Al in his normal clothes always retained an air of neatness, but now in a dark suit and tie the young man seemed somehow… polished. It was strange but the formal clothes seemed to match his self-appointed role as the guardian of his sister, lending an air of authority not normally found in a teenager. The sister in question was a whole other matter. Gone were the usual bright red coat and dark trousers. Instead she was in a forest green dress in a modest cut that came to her calves. It was a surprisingly good colour with her golden hair and eyes, which he realised were faintly accentuated by make-up.

"Thank you sir, but we wouldn't have managed it without Miss Haweye's help." The elder Elric shot a thankful glance at the woman even as Ed huffed quietly at something which seemed to amuse her companions.  
"Think nothing of it Alphonse, after all it was actually a rather pleasant way to spend the afternoon."  
"Wait- you spent your afternoon shopping for outfits with these two?" he couldn't help the shock in his tone.  
"Of course sir- someone had to make sure they would blend in and considering those available for the job… well I was voted most qualified."  
He decided to drop the topic before he tripped over his own tongue again and said something stupid. After all, formal event or not, he just knew that she had a gun somewhere on her person.

Thankfully their attention was called to the stage at the front of the room where the Fuhrer had appeared with all due fanfare to give a welcoming speech. It was during this interlude that the rest of Mustang's team managed to find their way over. The Colonel still wasn't sure how they had all managed to get dragged into this, although he had his suspicions that Maes may have had something to with it in order to mess with him. After all, the sheer volume of complaints he had been facing all week had almost driven him completely up the wall, which would no doubt count as suitable punishment in his supposed friend's eyes. Next time he would just agree that Elysia was a prodigy and then keep his damned mouth shut…

Thoughts entirely off track, he almost missed clapping dutifully along with the rest of the audience as the speech came to a close, and turned back to his assembled subordinates… or not. Apparently the buffet table was of more pressing concern and had already attracted Havoc and Breda who were loading up plates with more than was strictly polite. The Colonel sighed and ran a hand through his already messy hair. This was going to be a very long night.

….

Edythe breathed deeply as she pressed her back against the cool stone of the wall in one corner of the ballroom. The sensation of the marble against her shoulders was somewhat soothing. This was turning into a very long night. What made it worse was that bastard Colonel filching Al to introduce him to some stuffy officer he was trying to impress, leaving her to 'mingle' with an assortment of other high ranking military personnel.

If they had at least been talking about something interesting she could have grit her teeth and borne it, but there was no way in hell that she was going to stand there as they droned on about petty rivalries and the cost of office supplies. Come on- the cost of paper clips? Seriously?! As quickly as she could, she had excused herself and retreated from the main throng. Sighing, she placed one hand to her head which was really starting to ache with the effort that this evening was requiring. Why the hell had Mustang decided to separate her from Al?

 _Footsteps, coming towards her, with the same slight scuffing noise that was apparently an inbuilt feature of dress shoes. There was a heavy wave of cologne which made her want to sneeze and seemed slightly sickly sweet. A throat clearing, deep, slightly rough voice._

"Excuse me Miss. I don't believe we have been introduced."  
Internally she sighed, but she had promised Al after all to behave… "Hello, I'm Edythe. And you are…?"  
"Williamson. Lieutenant Williamson. Edythe- a pretty name. I can't help noticing you are not in uniform."  
It took all of her self-control not to roll her eyes.

 _Slight shifting, a presence moving in closer, encroaching on her personal space but she couldn't move back being already pressed against the wall. The faint, bitter tang of whiskey on his breath as he spoke again._ "You know, parties like this are so dull. How would you like to go somewhere more interesting?"

 _Heart starting to beat uncomfortably fast, not sure how to escape, don't want to cause a scene… quick footsteps, heavier, familiar gait, the smell of stale cigarettes and that oh so welcome voice stating firmly and with an almost growl…_  
"Sorry mate, she's with me."  
 _The intruder retreating, muttering obscenities under his breath._

"Thank you!"  
"Are you alright?" he sounded genuinely concerned and a little angry.  
"Umm, yeah, yeah I'm fine now. Thanks. I just wanted to take a bit of a break from it all but sort of got cornered."  
"Aah, well if you want we have all hidden in a games room just down the corridor…"  
"Sounds good to me." She didn't even try to hide the relief in her words.

 _Steps starting to move away, then pausing as she stayed in one spot._  
"You coming Chief?"  
She flushed a little. "I'm… a bit disorientated right now…"  
 _A wave of understanding, a slow approach, calloused fingers curling around her hand and placing it on the sleeve of a formal military jacket. The weave is slightly coarse under her fingertips as she gratefully clings to the fabric, allowing him, trusting him, to guide her through the clusters of dignitaries._

He didn't say anything else until they had left the main ball room and Ed couldn't repress a sigh of relief.  
"You alright there Chief?"  
"Better. I really hate big gatherings like that. It's just all kind of overwhelming you know? Too many to try and track at once, too many voices, and apparently buckets of perfume over everyone."  
Havoc snorted at that. "Why didn't you have your cane?"  
She sighed. "It was decided that it would be better without in such a crowded environment to I wouldn't accidentally-on-purpose hit someone with more stars on his shoulders than brain cells between his ears. I was doing alright until the Colonel nicked Al."

For some reason she never minded talking to Havoc about the realities of her blindness. Ever since that first day when he had so obviously been keeping an eye on her but spared her feelings by pretending otherwise, their friendship had flourished. Whilst she had also grown close to the others, particularly Hawkeye, Havoc was still her favourite and the one she would talk to when Al was not there.

The others in question soon greeted her with surprising enthusiasm as Havoc brought her into a room where the music from the main hall was blessedly muted. Almost without realising it every muscle which had become so tensed in the last hour gradually relaxed with the welcome familiarity.

 _The slightly laboured breathing and scent of the canapes which had been circling as Breda slouched over to chat to Havoc, the eternal rustling of cloth that accompanied Fuery's nervous twitching, Falman's calm, deep breathing a soothing presence in the corner of the room. The familiar clink of metal and tang of gun oil as Hawkeye stepped closer to check that Ed was alright. Yes, this was exactly what she had needed._

"Where has your big bro got to?"  
Ed turned her head towards Breda's voice, a slight frown marking her brow. "Not sure. Colonel bastard pinched him a little while ago to meet some high ranking tosser and I lost them in the crowd."  
There was a hiss of annoyance, no doubt from the lieutenant who muttered something about irresponsible Fuhrer wannabes, followed a moment later by the click of the door latch as she apparently stormed off to track down their wayward superior. A moment later Ed was guided to a chair which she happily plunked down onto, groaning in relief.  
"Thank god! My feet are killing me in these stupid heels."  
"Honestly Chief, I was surprised to see you actually wearing them."  
She snorted, completely ruining the attempt at elegance offered by her outfit. "I went down fighting but it was two against one and Hawkeye always follows the golden rule."  
"Which is?"  
"She always brings her gun to a knife fight." Her sharp hearing caught the sound of Breda snickering somewhere to her left and she shot a glare in his general direction.

"So, what's the plan now? Keep hiding here until the whole bloody thing is over?"  
"Pretty much. Fancy a game of poker?" This brought a shark-like grin to the petite blonde's face and a collective groan from the others in the room. She was somewhat notorious when it came to cards. In the first game they had ever played a combination of her prodigy level intelligence letting her easily card count whilst her heightened senses allowed her to pick up on the slightest changes in her opponents, meant that she had cleaned them all out collectively for over a month's worth of pay.

Apparently gluttons for punishment, they were soon gathered around a card table on which Falman placed the specialised pack of cards which they used. Another one of Winry's ideas, each one had a braille version of the suit and number in the top left hand corner. It was for this reason that the others were wary of letting Ed deal, claiming that she could cheat and check the cards as she flicked them to each individual. She had just shrugged, let them skip her deal, and then soundly thrashed them anyway.

It was on the third round that her ears suddenly pricked up and a small smirk graced her features as she muttered a low "incoming" to the others around the table. Sure enough a half second later the door burst open and she was swept up _into the wonderful comfort of gear oil, vanilla, cinnamon and that_ something _that just screamed_ Al.  
"Sister! There you are- I was getting worried. I am so sorry we got parted for so long and I was trying to look for you but the officer wouldn't shut up and then Mustang…"

A raised hand stopped the tirade as the younger sibling assured her brother that she was fine and told him about being rescued by Havoc.  
"But this doesn't mean you are off the hook you bastard!" this last was addressed in the direction of where the Colonel was skulking near the doorway under the disapproving glare of Hawkeye. He couldn't help but feel that somewhere along the line he had made a huge mistake…

….

It was three days after the interesting affair that was the military ball and Mustang was about ready to snap. He had been fine the first day, edgy the second, now he was almost at the point of jumping at his own shadow. Three whole days and still the ball of fury that was Edythe Elric had not exploded at him even once. He knew that retribution for forcing her attendance was somewhere on the horizon, that was just how she worked. And if the half smirking, half pitying looks that Al sometimes sent his way were anything to go by, the Colonel had every right to be afraid.

But nothing had happened yet!

Striding out of his office, needing to move to try and work off some of his nervous energy, he was startled to come face to face with the little demon herself, who walked straight into him and seemed to bounce off with a small 'oof' and a scowl. Had there just been a little flash? Muttering an apology he darted to the side and around her, not noticing the small look of satisfaction on her face as he left the room, nor paying attention to the half choked snigger from Breda.

It wasn't until the eighth person stared at him in the corridor before apparently trying not to burst out laughing that a few things suddenly aligned in his mind. Ed never bumped into people- she always knew when people were coming. So she must have had a reason…

Frustrated and slightly scared, he ran a hand through his artfully messy hair… or rather rubbed at his incredibly bald head. With mounting horror he reached up with his other hand, clasping at the egg like dome where once the pride of his appearance had sat. Turning slowly, he caught sight of his own reflection in one of the large windows, eyes wide as he noted that not only was he bald but apparently also wonderfully shiny…

The scream echoed up and down Headquarters, bringing a Cheshire cat grin to the face of one particular alchemist, who calmly returned to her research.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: hello there! I know, a long time since I last updated. I have no excuse other than the complicated mess that is life :P so, here is the start of the two parter that I promised, hope you guys like :D thank you so much to everyone who reviewed/liked/followed, can't believe how much of a positive response this fic has been getting, really makes my day when I get feedback. To** darkraistlyn, **I wasn't planning on having this as a fic where Ed gets her sight back, but then again this is pretty early on in various ideas I have planned, so might play with that later :) so yeah, enough of my rambling :P hope you enjoy and that wherever you are you are having a good day!**

CHAPTER 7

Colonel Roy Mustang pelted down the closest alleyway, breath catching in his lungs as he rounded the corner and his feet almost skidded out from underneath him. Catching one hand on the edge of a building he swiftly righted himself and continued the mad dash through the semi-darkness.

There! A brief flash of movement as something whipped around the corner up ahead, deeper into the maze of back alleys which made up the decidedly dangerous district of Leore. From some deep, hidden well of energy he dredged up enough power to give one more burst of speed. He was unencumbered unlike his prey, who was weighed down with… _no, don't think of it_.

The buildings were starting to thin now, the fringes of the city fast approaching. Were they headed back into the desert? What would that accomplish? And why the hell had they taken his subordinate?

FOUR DAYS EARLIER

The words before Mustang's eyes seemed to swim and blur as he stared at the paperwork which was piled on his desk. He could have sworn the wood was bending from the sheer weight of all the rubbish he was supposed to check, sign, and return- in triplicate. He groaned, trying to force some tiny, long lost shred of humanity to actually care about this nonsense.

With determination he picked up the first sheet, scanning down the request form and trying to remember what that particular code stood for… a strange sound broke through his efforts. Shaking off the brief distraction, he once again tried to remember that number… there was another burst of noise… had that been a giggle? Silence. He sighed, tried to focus, and slammed his hand onto the desk as that (yep definitely a giggle) aggravating noise once again drifted through his office door.

Growling in frustration he stood and made for the door, yanking it open. And blinked.

Another bout of giggles erupted, apparently from Ed. The girl in question seemed to be almost dancing in the middle of a giant transmutation circle which had been painted onto the carpet. He assumed (hoped) it would wash out. The elder Elric was knelt at the edge of the white lines, hands hovering just above them and a devilish grin on his face. Havoc, Breda and Fuery were gathered around the array and for some reason seemed to be holding an assortment of stationary each. Hawkeye was simply standing in the corner and watching with a slight smile.

As Mustang was about to speak, Al lowered his hands to the array and there was a flash of near lightning which seemed to solidify into some sort of light barrier around Ed's almost vibrating frame. At Al's nod the other members of the team began to throw things, apparently aiming directly for the girl. The Colonel's eyes widened in surprise as without fail each item bounced back off of the light shield. With each impact it almost looked as if ripples spread out across the barrier, and Ed once again giggled almost hysterically. Once the supply of missiles had run out the elder brother lifted his hand yet again, allowing the light to fade out. As if on cue, Breda, Havoc and Fuery scurried around to collect the scattered pens, paperclips, and even a stapler.

Still wiggling for some unknown reason, Ed grinned at the general area of her brother and motioned in Mustang's direction. Inwardly he smiled slightly as the others all startled a little on noticing him.  
"I am sure that there is a reasonable and rational explanation for all of this."  
"Yes and no."  
"More yes than no."  
"In fact I would say completely yes."  
"Maybe not that far- rational yes, reasonable not so much."  
"How about telling me the explanation and I will judge?" the Colonel was smiling slightly even as he felt the beginnings of whiplash from trying to follow the sibling's conversation.

Al was apparently elected spokesperson as he straightened up, turning towards his superior even as he kept half an eye on the form of his sister who was still dancing around in the middle of the array.  
"Well, we came up with this new concept for a form of alchemical shield. It was Ed's thought actually, she was trying to understand exactly how forces interacted in order to perform alchemy. For instance the way in which gravity manipulates particles in order to compress dirt into walls, you know, how we are able to cause such specific manipulation."

Mustang blinked a little at this, wrapping his head around the idea that these two kids were tackling the profound fundamental concepts of a process which had only ever been discussed in the highest levels of theoretical research.  
"Anyway, we came up with an array which was intended to make these interactions visible to the human eye. Let's just say it didn't work, however we did manage to make this thing which was sort of like a shield. So… we decided to test this application."  
"I see. So you decided to test this in my office. And for some reason the results are causing your sister to attempt what appears to be a tap dance."

Alphonse rubbed the back of his head ruefully with his automail hand. "Yeah… we kinda didn't want the other researchers around…"  
"They have been giving you stick again?"  
"Nothing too bad, but still…"  
"I see." The tone was glacial and promised another 'discussion' with the department. "And Ed?"  
"Umm, honestly? I don't really know what to say about that. She says it feels good or something. Apparently she can't resist giggling at it."

The girl in question shot a slight glare in their direction as her brother carefully erased certain sections of the array so that she could step out of it safely. Pouting slightly, she did so, obviously irritated at having their fun interrupted.  
"Dammit Colonel Bastard- you really are a spoilsport you know."  
"Now, now, no need for that. Actually, I'm afraid to say that I am going to have to steal you two away from your research for a little while."  
The siblings both wore confused expressions and Al asked the pertinent question, "Why?"  
"Well, there is this case that we are currently working on-"

He got no further as Hawkeye stepped forwards and seemed to send him some sort of non-verbal warning, offering a small smile to the Elrics as she firmly pulled her superior officer to the corner of the room and spoke in a low voice. "Sir, is this such a good idea? They are just kids after all. This sort of thing was not what they signed up for."  
"Look, Lieutenant, it's not as if I am sending them in at the deep end. I just want them to take a look at some of the arrays that were found at the scene. Not even the actual photographs or anything like that, just the arrays."

"Which arrays are you talking about?" Ed's voice rang clearly from the other side of the room, cutting across their muttered concerns. Mustang rubbed one hand against his temples.  
"I should have known you would listen in."  
The girl looked unrepentant. "I can't exactly help it you know. So- spill! What is the new mystery?"  
The Colonel sighed heavily, "No need to make it sound like some sort of cheap thriller novel. It's just a case which we have been working that has strayed into alchemical territory. The perpetrator is using some pretty refined techniques for his crimes that quite honestly have most of us investigating at a bit of a dead end."

Identical thoughtful expressions crossed the sibling's faces. It was honestly kind of eerie how alike they could look at times. Al took over the questioning, "So what exactly is this guy up to?"  
"Umm… well, he-"  
"He seems to be manipulating specific substances within particular areas, in a very targeted and precise manner, but we are not entirely sure how he is doing it."  
"That was wonderfully vague." The level of scorn in Ed's voice should have been illegal. "Details, people, we need details. What substances? How big an area? In what way is he manipulating them? Look, we can't give you anything without knowing all the variables."

Colonel Mustang sighed heavily, and ignoring the warning glare from Hawkeye spoke very fast. "He's somehow using alchemy in order to kill people by apparently manipulating their blood. That much we were able to figure out. The thing is we only have pieces of the arrays he has been using and they don't seem to make any sense. So the higher ups have requested that you two take a look at the case and see if anything jumps out at you."

Silence fell in the office for the space of several breaths. All eyes were somehow drawn to the elder Elric, who seemed to be radiating a growing mixture of conflicted emotions towards Roy. "You want my sister and I to get involved in a murder case? Seriously? That sounds like it could be really dangerous and I don't think that…"  
"How many victims?" Ed's voice was low, but still cut across he brother's concerns.  
Roy turned to look at her, matched her serious tone, "Five so far. All teenagers who had been living on the streets… at least from what we were able to identify."

The girl turned towards her brother, reaching out with one hand which he caught with his own and held fast as they seemed to almost share a telepathic conversation. Eventually Al gave a small groan and turned back to the Colonel. "Fine, we will help. But just seeing drawings aren't going to be enough. If we really want to get a read on how these things work we are going to have to visit the actual site." His face showed just how uncomfortable he was with that particular prospect.  
Mustang nodded seriously at him, having been expecting this. "In that case pack a bag. We are heading to the city of Leore."

….

 _Heat and spices and shouts of crowds in the bazaar which was right next to the station entrance. Stepping from solid metal, which was thankfully, finally still, onto what should have been terra firma. But no, shifting underfoot, a slight loss of balance as the ground seemed to move ever so faintly. A hot wind gusting, small particles carried on its force to sting her face in a thousand pinpoint impacts. Tipping her head back to feel the full force of the sun on her face, harsh and powerful… a hand on her elbow, heavy and familiar, as her brother plunked a hat down onto her head._

"Careful there Sister. Don't want you getting heatstroke now. That would be a fine old welcome to Leore."  
"He's right you know. You have to be careful in the desert regions not to get dehydrated or overly sunburned. Trust me, it isn't pleasant." Hawkeye's sensible voice rang from behind and the siblings belatedly moved forwards so that the others had space to exit the train. It had been decided that the team would consist of Edythe, Alphonse, Mustang, Hawkeye and Havoc. Apparently Hawkeye didn't trust her superior to be let out of her sight for the predicted week that their investigation would take, and had decided that Havoc would be best suited to help keep the youngest member of their group in line.

The lieutenant took point as they made their way from the train station to the hotel, glancing back every now and again to make sure that the rest of the group were following close behind. Mustang was walking with his usual blend of military purposefulness and personal nonchalance, Havoc sticking to his accustomed slouch. But the Elrics… well they seemed to be just trying to absorb as much as they could.

Al's eyes were darting eagerly around, catching brief glimpses of exotic splendour as they passed by an assortment of market stalls selling everything from spices to silks at no doubt outrageous prices. It wasn't that the place seemed all that wealthy or even overly important, but it was quite simply teeming with life. People were milling everywhere, to the point where at times he lost sight of the others, only for them to rematerialize from the crowd a minute later. Every stall seemed decked out in the brightest colours possible, each display of goods attempting to entice the people passing by. It was almost impossible to keep tabs on the blue military coats of their team mates. Momentarily overwhelmed, he tightened his grip ever so slightly on his sister's arm as he guided them both through the chaos.

 _Noise, so much noise! Voices and conversations and shouts of vendors and a child laughing and dogs barking and something sizzling on what was likely a grill and an argument to one side and a singer somewhere up ahead. Breathe in… cinnamon, cardamom, chilli, dirt, oil, engine grease, cheap dye, sweat… ground constantly shifting, transitions from packed earth to treacherous sand and back again. Sigh in relief as her brother's grip became even stronger on her arm, a welcome anchor in this sea of beautiful chaos…_

They had decided before leaving Central that they would head straight to the latest crime scene from the station whilst some soldiers on loan from the local garrison took their bags to the barracks where they had been assigned bunks. By the time that Mustang had handed off the luggage the Elrics had only just caught up with the group in a slightly less crowded square off of the main bazar. The Colonel looked at the kids with a bit of concern, both kids appearing rather out of their depth which was a stark contrast to their usual combined aura of confidence and control. Ed in particular seemed to be almost quivering, although he wasn't sure if it was from nerves or excitement. Perhaps this hadn't been the best idea…

With a sigh he shoved those thoughts to the back of his mind, buried under a rock in the far corner of his psyche, and just motioned to Havoc to stick a bit closer to the duo… just in case. Thankfully it was not too long of a walk to their destination, and only a few blocks later the group slipped into a side alley between a restaurant and a pharmacy. It was not quite wide enough for two adults to walk side by side, although Ed and Al seemed to be able to make their way with greater ease, the steady tapping of the girl's cane echoing back from the brick walls on either side.

Before Mustang could even tell them exactly where the attack had taken place, the pair seemed to freeze in their tracks Ed's head cocked slightly to one side as she suddenly knelt on the sand dusted stones. Her brother joined her a split second later and they seemed to be engaging in one of those intense and technical conversations which seemed to make perfect sense only to themselves. Sidling over, he was able to catch snatches of their discussion, something about "iron… infusing heat… denaturing…"

Clearing his throat seemed to get the attention of the prodigies after letting them ramble on for a good ten minutes, or at least the eldest who turned to look at the superior officer with that slightly distracted look he always wore when fascinated by research.  
"So, what can you tell me?"  
"Well, we are only working with fragments here, seems whoever did this made an effort to erase his tracks as much as possible. But from what I could see, the array is intended to produce an effect on iron based composites-"  
"Like those found in the bloodstream" the younger blonde chipped in, hand hovering above the scuffed lines carved into the pavement.  
"Yes, that is the most likely target considering the reported effects."  
"And it had something to do with heat."

Mustang blinked in surprise for a moment at the girl. "How on earth can you tell that?"  
She shrugged, "That's what the echo feels like."  
Dumbfounded Mustang was about to ask what the hell she was talking about when suddenly Havoc came running over from the mouth of the alley where he had been taking a smoke.  
"Oi Colonel- just got word of another alchemical array being found three blocks over. No victims though- they think we might have got there before it could be activated and scared the alchemist off."

The Flame Alchemist lost no time in taking control. "Alright, I am going to go check it out. You stay here with the Elrics until we have confirmed that this new find is legit and safe. Keep an eye on them just in case that nutjob is running around here somewhere. If we are not back in half an hour head straight to the hotel."  
"Ok Colonel- but make sure you let us get a look at the thing before some idiot scuffs it up!"  
Mustang rolled his eyes at Ed's input, yelled from where they were still crouched over the array. He really needed to get used to the fact that she heard practically everything. Rolling his eyes, and with Hawkeye on his heels, he hurried from the alleyway.

…

Ed sighed as she leaned against one of the alley walls just before it opened out onto the street, arching her back to stretch out after being crouched over that blasted array for so long. Mustang hadn't been kidding when he said that it had been damaged, there was only about a third of it still etched into the ground, which Al was now copying into a notebook and sketching possible ways in which it could have been completed in order to commit the murders. She couldn't repress the shudder that ran through her at the thought of using alchemy for such a thing. It was just twisted.

About to return to her brother's side and see if she could pick up any other clues, she suddenly stiffened as something new caught her attention. _There was… a smell… only just there beneath the fog of Havoc's latest cigarette. It was slightly like… burnt metal? And something else… some, she almost wanted to say vibration in the air, which felt uncomfortably similar to the echo she had felt form the array…_

Before she could say anything though, there was suddenly a rough hand clamped down across her mouth. _Burnt metal and that strange coppery tang only found in blood and the stale stench of a body too long unwashed. A growling voice in her ear telling her to hold still and another pair of voices yelling close by, loud enough to make her wince slightly. Al sounded so terrified and furious, Havoc attempting to inject authority into his tone. Shifting, struggling, kicking backwards and being rewarded with the hard 'oomph' of forcefully expelled air but no luck in loosening the grip. And then something cold and hard pressed against her temple, a deceptively small ring of metal pressing forcefully enough that it would probably bruise. She stilled, trying to focus on what was happening, to hear past her own pounding heart. And suddenly there was a starburst of agony erupting from the back of her skull, unconsciousness welcoming her with open arms…_

…

Roy had been carefully examining the new array, brows drawn into a heavy frown. This one seemed different from the others, rushed, and apparently nothing to do with the elements that the Elrics had identified only a short while before. Something was definitely off here…

His musings were interrupted as a shout from the other end of the alley caught his attention a split second before Havoc came sprinting over, yelling hoarsely about the Elrics and an attacker and a kidnapping and Al pursuing... For the briefest moment Mustang froze, before snapping back to reality as Hawkeye cocked her beloved gun and looked at once to him for orders.  
"Which direction were they headed?"  
"East" it was all Havoc could get out past his laboured breaths before his superior was running in that direction, trusting his team to have his back.

It was only one block away that they stumbled across Al, caught fast by what seemed to be an iron railing from outside a shop that had twisted around his flesh wrist, trapping him in place. Motioning Havoc to stay with the boy, knowing it wouldn't be long before he managed to free himself, the officer took off once again.

Colonel Roy Mustang pelted down the closest alleyway, breath catching in his lungs as he rounded the corner and his feet almost skidded out from underneath him. Catching one hand on the edge of a building he swiftly righted himself and continued the mad dash through the semi-darkness.

There! A brief flash of movement as something whipped around the corner up ahead, deeper into the maze of back alleys which made up the decidedly dangerous district of Leore. From some deep, hidden well of energy he dredged up enough power to give one more burst of speed. He was unencumbered unlike his prey, who was weighed down with… _no, don't think of it_.

The buildings were starting to thin now, the fringes of the city fast approaching. Were they headed back into the desert? What would that accomplish? And why the hell had they taken his subordinate?


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: hello there people! whoop at last another chapter :D sorry to leave you hanging so long- been a bit crazy for a while with the sheer amount of essays/exams/term papers due (seriously- why is it always so many at once) thankfully got a bit of time between them to write this up. Thanks so much for all the reviews/likes/follows seriously never thought this story would be so popular :D and don't worry- although I may take a while to update I am not abandoning this story, I enjoy playing with it too much and have many more ideas to share :P anywhoo, enough of my rambling. Hope you like this, let me know what you think! hope wherever you are that you are having a good day! :D**

CHAPTER 8

 _A noise, a very persistent, repetitive, beyond irritating noise that seemed to drill deep into the depths of her skull. In addition to the sickening pulse thudding sluggishly through her brain… safe to say that she was feeling pretty miserable right about now. AND THAT NOISE WAS STILL GOING! It was like a tapping, almost a plinking… recognisable in her decidedly muddled brain as… WATER! Oh god she was thirsty- mouth like sand paper or the desert by which Leore was surrounded… LEORE! The sudden thought made her jerk and then double over as the entire universe seemed to explode from the back of her head._

 _What the hell had happened?_

…

Mustang's team were assembled at their hotel, bags carelessly thrown onto the beds and promptly ignored as they focused all of their attention on facing the situation at hand. Nobody was speaking, but the room was by no means silent. The constant footfalls of the colonel as he paced back and forth in front of the window were a monotonous beat that the others did their best not to yell at him for. There was the hasty rustling of pages as Alphonse flipped through his alchemy notes to try and find a lead on the arrays that had been left. Hawkeye added to the soundtrack with the methodical metallic clacks made as she dismantled and cleaned her weapon, eyes hard and mouth set in a firm line, taking comfort in the familiar movements. Then there was the nervous click of Havoc's lighter shutting on and off and on and off and on and-

"For the love of god stop that bloody snapping!" everyone stared in shock at the colonel who had whirled around to holler at his subordinate. It was an inevitable explosion, an expression of the frustration they were all feeling, of the guilt which was eating at the man who had let the kidnapper slip through his fingers. And so nobody said anything in response. Although the lieutenant's reproachful look spoke volumes.

His superior immediately looked contrite, a faint grimace on his face as he turned back once again to the less than stellar view from the window. He wasn't seeing it though. In his mind the events of two hours before played out for the millionth time. Like a movie reel he once again saw the figure of their mystery alchemist getting closer, he had been catching up, practically within grabbing distance of his prey as they tore through the streets of the city.

Of course it couldn't have been that simple. Of course the colonel had underestimated the criminal. Of course the murderer who had proved so intelligent would not have taken just any old route whilst kidnapping Ed. And of course Mustang had run across an array scratched into the pavement which activated and made hands of stone spring from the ground to hold him fast by all four limbs. In hindsight he was beyond lucky that the trap was non-lethal. And so he had watched, helpless, as the alchemist ran from view, the limp form of Edythe Elric slung carelessly over one shoulder.

By the time the others had caught up, Al swiftly breaking the Colonel free, it was simply too late. The alchemist had vanished along with his hostage practically into thin air. Their only option had been to regroup back at the hotel. Hawkeye and Havoc had immediately begun to coordinate with the local units, putting the word out about what had happened and trying to access any and all informants who might have spotted their fugitive. Once that was done though, all they could do was wait for word to get back.

Meanwhile, Al had been almost literally consumed by his books, tearing through the notes that he and his sister had been making just before she had been taken. Mustang wasn't entirely sure exactly what it was that he was searching for, but decided to leave the prodigy to it. At the very least it would stop the boy's brain from centring solely on his worry for Ed.

The officer sighed as he once again turned on his heel to continue the endless circuit of pacing. Something had to give, something would turn up, something that would help… he just hoped it wouldn't be too late…

…..

The next time that Ed fought her way back to consciousness was slightly more pleasant than the first. Although her head was still aching it was no longer quite as ferocious a drum beat as before, and her senses seemed more organised, less in overload. Staying very still, she began to try and catalogue her surroundings.

 _That repetitive tapping sound was still there, a faintly metallic echo almost like when the kitchen tap was left to drip against a metal sink. Maybe a leaking pipe? The air smelt faintly musty, slightly chill against her skin, different from anything she had felt since arriving in the desert city. The sound of that infernal tapping sent echoes bouncing around, giving her a sense of the relatively small size of the room. No sense of sun on her face, apparently lying on cool stones… logic dictated it was most likely a basement of some sort. There was no sound of anyone else close by, but the hairs still raised on the back of her neck as if she could sense somebody watching her._

 _Shifting her focus, Ed did a quick run-down of her own condition. Head: still aching, like seriously- how hard had she been hit? Thirsty, very thirsty in fact, and now she thought about it the hunger gnawing at her gut was another source of discomfort. There was rope tying her wrists together behind her back and she smiled a little to herself. That could be easily dealt with when the time came for her to escape. And there was something else, a strange feeling on her face, like fabric resting over…_

She couldn't repress a snort of derision, which soon grew into a low chuckle that was quite out of place given her situation, but honestly she just found it too damn funny.

The sudden sound of a door opening interrupted her amusement, and heavy footfalls approached. _Burnt metal and that strange coppery tang only found in blood and the stale stench of a body too long unwashed._  
"And what is so funny?" the voice was the same, gravelly and with a slight snarl. The reminder of why she had been giggling managed to overshadow any sense of trepidation within the girl and she snorted once again.  
"You blindfolded me." And this time her laughter was distinctly louder.  
"I don't see what is so amusing about your current situation missy- you are my hostage, kidnapped by a man that the whole of the Amestrian military wants dead as a violent criminal-"  
"Also known as the moron who decided to blindfold me." And another round of sniggers filled the stunned silence of the room.  
"And just what is so funny about that exactly?" there was a low edge in his tone, hinting of potential danger and no doubt a painful end in the near future… but she just couldn't take him seriously under the circumstances.  
"I _am_ blind you absolute idiot!" and with that Ed broke out into another round of almost cackling that would put a hyena to shame. So perhaps she was partly reacting to the stress of the situation, perhaps she was intentionally trying to annoy her captor, but either way it was pretty damn funny that he had blindfolded an already blind girl.

Clearly her erstwhile kidnapper did not quite know how to respond to that revelation, and a slightly awkward silence settled over the pair. That is at least until Ed's stomach decided to do its best imitation of a whale. She actually blushed a little.  
"Oi, Mister-lets-kidnap-and-blindfold-a-blind-girl, any chance of some food?"  
"Afraid not at this point." The guy actually sounded a bit off balance at how she was reacting to the current situation, which only increased as she huffed in annoyance.  
"Look mate, I don't know how often you have played this hostage-taking game, but ideally you need to keep said hostage in fairly good condition. Could I at least get some water? I mean seriously, I'm so thirsty! It is like my throat is made of sand, or dust, or cat litter, or-"  
"Fine! I will give you a drink if you just shut up!"

Inwardly the young alchemist smirked. Apparently outwardly as well, if the sound of grinding teeth was anything to go by. There was the noise of fabric rustling, and she guessed he was searching through a bag or something, before she heard the blessed unmistakable sloshing of water in some form of canteen. A moment later the edge of a water bottle was placed against her mouth, and she greedily gulped down the contents, being careful to stop before she had too much and made herself sick.

She grinned in the direction she judged her captor to be. "Thanks- that feels much better. Now, down to business. How's about you do the smart thing here and just let me go and turn yourself in to the military? I will make sure that you are treated fairly."  
The disbelief emanating from the man was almost a solid force. "You seem to be under some sort of misunderstanding regarding how this is meant to work. You are my hostage- my bargaining chip, my captive. You are not in control here. I am. I am the bad guy here- the violent, dangerous criminal who does bad things to innocent people. You are my _victim._ " For some reason it sounded to her like he was trying to convince himself…

As he was speaking the man had begun to pace, his footsteps mirroring the tapping of the leaking pipe and only serving to aggravate Ed's headache further. Out of patience, she just huffed another sigh of frustration.  
"Well, I gave you a chance. But if you insist on doing this the hard way…"  
It was the work of a moment to shift her wrists until her palms could touch…

…

The tense silence which had fallen over the hotel room was suddenly broken by an exclamation from Al. "I think I have it- I think I know what this lunatic was trying to do!"  
Everyone's attention was swiftly focused in on the young alchemist who was frantically looking back and forth between his notes and a text book that honestly looked ready to fall apart from misuse over time. Apparently he had forgotten for a moment that the others were waiting for him to continue, startling when Mustang cleared his throat to remind him of their presence.

"Oh, sorry sir. Well, Ed was right- the arrays were definitely aiming to work with iron and heat, geared specifically towards manipulation of the blood. However, I don't think that the intent of the alchemist was to kill. Quite opposite- I think that he may have been attempting to produce a healing effect but didn't know what he was doing, or at least hadn't perfected his technique and so it went wrong."

Seeing the sceptical looks which he was receiving he hurried to defend his idea. "Look, the closest match to the arrays and effects that I have found have to do with bio-alchemy, specifically the study of battle field medicine. There was a series of experiments done by a research lab about twenty years ago into treating traumatic injuries by attempting to almost cauterise severe wounds from the inside using elements in the victim's own blood. The idea was to try and reduce the chances of infection occurring from introducing potentially unsterile surgical instruments in a conflict situation. Unfortunately the study was abandoned when the alchemists were unable to prevent the array from effecting all the blood in a body. They never proceeded to human trials as they recognised the dangers that would pose to test subjects, but the reported effects on the blood would likely have resulted to similar deaths as we have seen."

"Ok, assuming that this is what we are looking at, how does that us help find this nutjob?" Hawkeye didn't seem to notice Havoc's frustrated tone, replying in her usual clipped manner.  
"We need to look for alchemists who have expressed an interest in this field of study, someone with enough clearance to access these research materials. That should help us narrow down the list of suspects."  
"But how long will that take?" now that his focus was off of his research, Al's fears for his sister were clearly coming back into the foreground of his mind. "Ed is out there with this guy, and for all we know he could-"

Any further debate was interrupted as a soldier rapped on the door frame and came smartly to attention. "Sir- a building collapse has been reported in the North Eastern section of the city. Officers on site testify to seeing alchemical flashes just beforehand. It is an area of abandoned warehouses and offices that they had been searching after a tip off that there had been a man fitting the description of the kidnapper lurking around."

All those present blanched at the report, thoughts of what this could possibly mean for the youngest Elric simultaneously flashing through their minds. What if she had been severely hurt? What if-  
"Take us there. Now." Mustang's tone brooked no argument, and the soldier saluted smartly before scurrying off to find the group a car to take them to the site, shuddering internally at the sheer level of anger in his superior's eyes. He almost felt sorry for the criminal they were hunting.

…..

The kidnapper in question was undoubtedly feeling rather sorry for himself as he took stock of the situation in which he was now found. There was dust heavy in the air, the fading echoes of falling rubble still ringing in his ears. He remembered the girl saying something about 'doing this the hard way' and then a flash of alchemical lightning and suddenly her hands had been free. Shock had frozen him to the spot briefly, this girl was an alchemist?!

A split second later she had clapped, placing both palms against the floor and stone hands had shot from the ground. He had barely managed to dodge, hastily pulling a set of pre-drawn arrays from his pockets and slamming one against the wall. Evidently he had made a mistake in his haste, and instead of creating a barricade in defence there had been a sickly whine through the air. The girl had clasped her hands over her ears, crying out as she dropped to her knees in apparent pain, and suddenly he recognised what was happening. Desperately he reached for the array, wanting to end the reaction before it could be competed, but he was too late.

And then everything had disappeared in the rush of collapsing walls.

There was the sound of shifting rocks somewhere to his left, followed by a rough groan. He actually was rather relieved at the indication that his hostage- could she still really count as that?- seemed to still be alive. "Hey- are you alright?"  
A slightly pained chuckle, "Well, this is a nice change of scenery."  
"We are in the midst of a collapsed building."  
"I was being sarcastic. Moron. You know, there are at least seventeen different ways this could have gone better. Literally, I am counting them right now. But no, you just had to go and resonate the concrete." Her voice was heavily tinged with annoyance, but also faintly with what sounded like pain.

"For what it's worth, I am sorry. For getting you caught up in all this…"  
"You really aren't much of an evil mastermind you know."  
"And you make a terrible hostage."  
"Not gonna apologise for that. Part of my cunning plan- annoy you until you just want to give me back."  
"It was almost working."  
"So… why did you do it?"  
He didn't need to ask what she was referring to. Shifting slightly, he let loose a heavy sigh. "I never meant to hurt anyone. It was just a mistake. I… a few months ago my wife and I were walking home from an alchemy conference when we were attacked. The guy had a knife and… god there was so much blood and there was nothing I could… and she… well, I'm sure you can guess. I started research bio-alchemy, I thought that I could find a way to make sure that no one had to die the same way. But it just, it wouldn't work. I found those teenagers after they had already been hurt- there is a low level gang war going on around these parts, so many victims on all sides. But I couldn't help. I just made it all worse, and suddenly I was being hunted as a killer…"

"And let me guess, when we showed up you panicked?"  
"Pretty much, I wasn't thinking straight when I grabbed you. I just figured I needed some sort of leverage to avoid getting shot on sight."  
"I will say it again- you really are a moron."  
"Believe me, I am well aware. I had no idea you were an alchemist."  
"Yeah, you just saw an easy target." There was no mistaking the note of bitterness in her voice. They lapsed into silence.

…

Mustang's group arrived at the site of the collapse and practically jumped out of the car before it had even come to a full stop. They all seemed to freeze at the view of total destruction before them. Military rescue units were swarming all over the mess of bricks and steel like ants, attempting to coordinate a search effort to see if there was anyone trapped within the wreckage.

Havoc had been getting a hasty report from the captain of one of the crews, and hurried to share what they had so far with the others. "Apparently it was brought down from the inside- transmutation marks on the bricks show it was definitely done by alchemy. So far they haven't found any casualties, but apparently this section of the city is known for having extensive underground systems. They are trying to dig some form of tunnel to see if anyone got trapped down there."

Hearing that, Al turned to the Colonel. "I'm going to go help them. If I know my sister she is most likely somewhere underneath all that. I can help find her."  
Mustang didn't try to protest- it made sense, and was exactly what the older Elric needed to be doing at that moment so as not to go crazy with worry. "Go for it, your alchemy would probably be useful for their tunnel idea. Just be careful- our suspect could also be somewhere close by and we don't need anything else to go wrong in this situation."

The boy nodded and hurried off. The rest of them surveyed the wreckage, all wondering the same thing. Was there really a chance that Ed was still alive somewhere under there?

…

The relative quiet of the underground room was broken once again by the sound of shifting rubble and a sharp, pained gasp. Ed gritted her teeth and once again made an attempt to push at the weight which had her pinned across her chest. It felt like rough wood under her fingertips, possibly some sort of support beam, no doubt very thick and heavy. She had no idea how it hadn't already crushed her- probably being propped up by the rest of this mess.

"What are you doing?" the voice of the man who had gotten them into this state echoed oddly around the changed dimensions of the room, giving her a vague image of how the various piles of rubble were likely placed. It didn't really help much though if she couldn't get out from under this blasted beam.  
"I am trying to work myself loose." Shifting again brought a sudden stab of pain through her torso. Dammit, probably a busted rib or two. "What condition are you in?"  
"Honestly? I think I am pretty lucky. As far as I can tell no major injuries, my ankle is sore but seems sprained rather than broke. I have one arm pinned but am wary about shifting around too much to try and get free. I don't know if moving will bring the rest of this down on top of both of us."

Ed snorted at that answer. Of course he would be the lucky one. Then again, neither of them were dead or apparently dying. "Alright, well I have no idea where the hell we are, but collapsing buildings tend to draw a fair amount of attention so there will likely be rescue crews already working. We just need to find a way to guide them to us." Somehow she was able to keep her voice calm, sensing the heartbeat of her fellow prisoner evening out slightly in response to the tone. Somehow she seemed to have taken on the role of adult in this situation. She couldn't resist a breathy chuckle at that thought.

"So, I think it would be best if you worked yourself free- I don't think it will cause a collapse so long as you are careful, and it would definitely be useful to have one of us able to move around."  
The only response was the sound of shifting bricks and occasional pained grunts as he seemed to follow her directions. With the man occupied, she once again reached out with her senses to try and get a better picture of their situation.

 _The sound of their own breathing, their own heartbeats, both slightly accelerated from the fear which was a strong scent in the air. Ignoring the crunch of moving rocks from the man's direction, her hearing strained to its very limit… there! Very faint, but there was definitely something, a crunching of metal and stone, the faintest echo of commanding voices. Yes! They were coming! And… there, a faintly flickering shadow of alchemical feedback. She knew that signature. Nobody else it could be. Her brother was coming._

A small yell of triumph brought her focus back to the room as her companion apparently managed to work himself free without killing them both in a deadly cave in. Obviously miracles did sometimes happen. Unsteady footsteps drew close to her position and then his voice came from somewhere to her right.  
"Blimey you really are caught fast. It's hard to tell with just the lamplight but it seems that there are two beams- one pinning you, resting on the other at an angle which is holding it up and keeping you in one piece. I can't see any way to move it without bringing the rest of this place down on top of us."  
"That's alright, just don't shift anything around me and I will be ok. Listen, the rescue crews are coming, sound not too far off in fact, and my brother is with them. You need to find some way to guide them to us."

He hummed for a minute in thought, then once again shifted away from her side. Moments later a harsh rapping filled the space, the unmistakable noise of a rock repeatedly striking a pipe in an SOS pattern. Ed grit her teeth. This had better work to get them rescued or else she would kill him herself for giving her the headache that was blossoming behind her eyes.

…

Al pulled up short half way through sketching an array for shifting a particularly troublesome section of wall, hastily motioning for the rest of the workers to shut up. Almost immediately silence fell. He strained his ears, he could have sworn he had heard… there! Heads snapped towards his direction as the faint metallic rapping echoed across the collapse site, and suddenly everyone was swarming the immediate area.

It was Mustang's barked orders that got everyone back in order, working with the chief of the rescue teams to redirect their efforts towards the section of rubble that Al managed to zone in on as the source of the noise. With the sound as their locating beacon it was almost painfully simple for a transmutation circle to be drawn which formed a small tunnel through the wreckage into what seemed to have been some sort of basement room. And suddenly they could hear voices floating up to them.

Al almost fell to his knees in relief as a male voice shouted up that Ed was alive, confirmed a moment later by her own yell that there had better be something to eat when they got out as she was starving. That drew a slight breath of laughter from Havoc who muttered under his breath something about buying her a banquet when they got her free. They quickly outlined their situation, the man describing exactly how Ed was trapped which seemed to cause some worried frowns on the faces of the rescue teams. When Al asked what was wrong, they explained how with the beams balanced so precariously any attempt to create a wide enough escape route could result in a cave in which would crush the girl before they could reach her.

Possibilities flashed through his mind, and suddenly struck gold in a memory from just a few days prior. Hastily he ripped out a page of his ever present notebook and sketched the design of an array. Mustang peered over his shoulder, recognising the circle after a couple of moments and sent a questioning look at the younger man.  
"She is in there with an alchemist. He can activate it."  
"It is going to have to take a lot more force than a few thrown office supplies."  
"It will work." There was utter conviction in his tone. Mustang nodded.

The note was wrapped around a stick of chalk and thrown down the access route previously made. "Draw this around Ed, make sure she is at the middle before you activate it. It will keep the beams from falling on her whilst we excavate an escape route for both of you."  
"Brother you are a genius!" the boy smiled softly as his sister's voice came echoing up to them.

Mustang stood back and watched as confirmation was given that the shield array had been activated and seemed to be holding. He bore witness as the alchemist on the rescue crew carefully crafted a new tunnel which was wide enough for him to crawl in so as to secure the room, then re-emerge with two figures caked in brick dust and smeared with dirt. Lieutenant Hawkeye had stepped smartly forwards to lock the cuffs onto the risks of the man who had caused all this chaos, and who didn't stop apologising the whole time as he was led away to the waiting MPs.

And at long last he saw as Edythe was eventually cleared by the paramedics after having her ribs wrapped, to be instantly enveloped in the world's gentlest bear hug from her older brother who didn't even try to fight back the tears in his eyes.


End file.
